


Revelations

by littlehutbeach



Series: Children of The Wild Ones [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst and Humor, F/M, Hale fire, Past Underage, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-13
Updated: 2016-01-14
Packaged: 2018-05-13 19:39:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 42,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5714752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlehutbeach/pseuds/littlehutbeach
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the Alpha attacks escalating, Derek decides to ask an old friend for help finding his sister's murderer. Soon, it becomes so much more than that as more Hale family secrets come to light.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

On my way… Lucy texted back to Derek.

She could easily imagine Derek was clenching and unclenching his fists with barely contained frustration. He wasn’t one to easily swallow his pride and ask for help. Things were probably getting real bad. After what happened between her and Derek, Lucy was honestly surprised that he’d even called in the first place. Regardless, she would have eventually gone to help him. Imogene, her mother, had even encouraged her when she realized what was at stake in Beacon Hills. The mention of one person in particular piqued their interest: Kate Argent.

It was no secret that among the supernatural community the Argents had many enemies. Imogene happened to be one of them. She believed they broke their so called ‘code’ and killed without cause. Lucy was more than happy to go after Kate since she tried to kill Derek. Lucy wasn’t going to stand idly by and neither would her mother apparently. At this point he was the last of the Hales given Laura’s recent death. The news had hit Lucy very hard, leaving her completely shocked and, later, incredibly sad. That lasted only long enough for the anger to set in. Now she wanted nothing more than to find out who killed her best friend and Derek’s call for help would let her do just that. She was going to help Derek with a little werewolf business and investigate the Argents. 

After everything that had happened to her family and Derek’s in Beacon Hills, Lucy wasn’t about to leave her friend to deal with everything on his own.Lucy made the mistake of letting Laura go off on her own once and look what happened. She should have insisted more on going with Laura. They knew it was dangerous. If only Lucy had gone with her instinct then her friend would still be alive. This time she would do things right. She wouldn’t let anything happen to him. Derek would not end up like Laura. 

At the moment, all she could think about was that the sooner things got that taken care of, the sooner they could start healing. After all they’d both lost over the years, they deserved to be happy and move on without forgetting any of their loved ones.

* * *

Lucy pulled up to the Hale house and slowly got out, tucking a strand a of hair behind her ear after a strong rush of wind engulfed her. Looking up, Lucy soaked up the sun and some fresh air after being cooped up in her car for hours. She watched the wind rustling the tree tops for a few seconds and chills ran up her spine as her gaze lowered to stared at the burnt out shell of a house before her. Memories from her time there resurfaced from the far corners of her mind where she’d kept them to avoid this exact feeling of hopelessness and deep pain. Slowly, she let out a shaky breath and tried to keep the sorrow at bay. One of the first things she noticed was the oppressing silence surrounding the area. Once upon a time this place was a magnificent manor surrounded by so much joy and noise. The Hales were good friends with her family and so Lucy spent countless months there at a time getting to know each and every one of them. She watched them grow up from rowdy little kids to teenagers and toddlers. Young werewolf children were very active and always running all over the place wrecking havoc left and right. Their land was a haven. It was supposed to be safe. Nothing bad was supposed to happen in their home. It was hard coming to terms with the fact that only Derek remained now. So many broken dreams and lives, all burnt and snuffed out during the fire.

After what they referred to as the "accident," Laura and Derek had gone to Brooklyn for a while until they were able to get back on their feet and Lucy got better. The fire had left her with a few reminders of that night and the severe burns took their sweet time healing. Even now, she still carried a few scars after all this time. It was a cruel reminder of what had been lost. One that she had to look at on a daily basis. Fortunately, others didn't. Having a few magic friends paid off for her. A special necklace was made for her, a glamour of sorts, to hide any visible scars. She could still see and feel them, but at least she got back some sense of normalcy without having others staring at her. Only those with magic would be able to see through the glamour. Ever since she got the handy magic object only Laura had been allowed to look at the scars.

Lucy’s stomach churned and a wave of sadness came over her because there was no more Laura. There wouldn’t be any more girls night out. No more talking to each other about everything. Laura had been the only one that had understood her in a very long time. She’d lost her entire family and still remained strong. She was an Alpha and, therefore, couldn’t just let everything go. It just wasn’t fair that after everything, Laura got killed for power.  

A power that she didn’t even want in the first place. Not when it had come to her as the result of her family’s death. With a mother like Talia she'd had pretty big shoes to fill. Talia had been a magnificent alpha, very powerful and dedicated to not only her pack but her people too. That's the kind of alpha that Laura had aspired to be despite the circumstances. She had dreams of one day settling down and restoring her family's state. Beacon Hills was their home, after all. Some time away from the small town is all they needed to grow strong, regroup, and heal. At least that's what she wanted at first. What happened to the Hale family changed her and Derek a lot. But while Derek had run away to mourn on his own and be left alone, Laura had dug up everything she could find about the fire. When certain things didn’t add up, she’d become obsessed with finding out the truth. That’s all she did the year before her death. How her curiosity was piqued in the first place after five years of trying to heal from the tragedy was still a mystery to Lucy. 

“All those unanswered questions…” Lucy murmured softly to herself. 

“Took you long enough,” Said a gruff voice from behind her.

The corner of Lucy's mouth lifted into a small smile. She slowly turned around to see none other than Derek Hale dressed in his regular Henley and jeans ensemble approaching her with careful, measured steps. His guarded expression didn't surprise her in the least. He was probably testing the waters, trying to figure out how she would react after how they left things between them last time. Lucy was relieved to see him well and alive more than anything. God, she'd missed his off putting expression and unfriendly manner so much. Against her better judgment, she still harbored strong feelings for the man before her. Seeing him just made something in her chest burst with happiness and relieved some tension, but she was still apprehensive as to how to handle things now. It was an awkward reunion. 

“Derek, I'm glad you're okay.” She said with as much calmness as she could muster and then did something she hadn’t done in a long time, hug him.

Surprisingly, he let it happen and after a brief hesitation, returned the hug. It felt like coming home. In his arms, Lucy felt safe. Happy memories threatened to resurface but she pushed them back to the closet in the back of her mind specially reserved for unwanted memories. Now was not the time for any of that. It would be better to follow Derek’s lead and not mention their previous problems. “Thanks for coming.” He told her in a more gentler tone that conveyed so much more than he could ever say.

Lucy pulled back and offered a small smile. “Yeah, no problem. Now, would you please tell me what exactly is going on?” Over the email the only thing he’d said was that he needed her help to catch Laura’s killer before more bodies piled up. They were drawing too much attention and they didn't want the police to get too suspicious. The more they kept under wraps, the better off the rest of the supernatural population would be. Kate Argent showing up was a recent development, apparently. Very recent.

Derek led her inside the house, quietly watching her reaction. Lucy did not disappoint, she did hesitate going in. Not because the house seemed unstable, if it collapsed it wouldn’t really hurt her or anything, but because of the memories that the house brought. Lucy finally walked in and went over to the staircase, running her hand through the charred wood of the rail. How many times had she seen Laura run down the stairs, happy to share something with her parents? Or Cora and Ian playing around? Countless, and now they were… gone. All of them. No more movie nights when watching the kids, or baked goods done by Talia herself. On rare occasions only, though, when her schedule would allow it because, as she always said, “It was better to leave them wanting more.” Not to mention Sophia, the nanny/housekeeper that had helped raise all of the Hale kids while keeping the house running smoothly; her wit and ability to always make you laugh is what had made Lucy consider the older woman a second mother. She was one of the humans that died in the fire. Well, her and Cora’s twin brother, Ian. He’d only been 11, a mere child. Chloe, Sophia’s daughter, was a werewolf that for one reason or another had been born with some sort of mental disability that prevented her from being part of society. That’s how they’d come to be with the Hale family, and ultimately died.

So many memories. Lucy just didn’t know how to deal with everything. She wanted to get out of there ASAP. But she didn’t run out of there like she wanted. That would be just disrespectful. So the continued to the left where the living room had been and as she approached it, only more memories resurfaced.

* * *

“So, what do you think of him?” Laura had asked from the floor where she was lying down lazily running her fingers through the soft carpet.

From the couch, Lucy let out a small laugh and peered down at her. “Well, I’d say he’s cute. Very tall, too. But not exactly your type, you know? No...” She brought up her hands and curled them a little to simulate claws. “you know.”

Laura coyly rolled her eyes. “So?”

“So, your mom might have something to say about that.”

While the Hales weren’t strict at all—Laura was in her early 20s, self-sufficient, and more than capable of taking care of herself—they did not particularly like it much when their secret could be in danger. Only when they were absolutely sure that they trusted someone, and Talia approved, did they even consider telling someone their most precious secret. Being respectable members of society in Beacon Hills, they had to be careful if they wanted to remain there. A human suspecting wasn't much of a problem, there were civilized ways to deal with it. A few humans were more problematic and all the attention could potentially attract hunters looking for a case where there wasn't one. However, that did not mean that Michael or Talia would forbid Laura from seeing Jared as long as she was careful. 

“But we’re just friends.” Laura lied, averting her gaze. Even then Lucy knew that Laura’s feelings for Jared went deeper than mere friendship. Those two were joined at the hip most of the time. They were sweet. 

What Laura felt for Jared was so obvious to Lucy that she was kind of insulted that her friend was lying to her. With all the time they spent together at the firm and police station for their internship, Lucy would have to be deaf and blind to be oblivious of their blossoming romance. Laura made excuses to go see Derek at the high school all the time. That's where she knew she'd run into Jared one way or another. As a teenager with bigger problems, Derek never even questioned it. 

“Laura, we’ve been friends for years.” Lucy said, fixing Laura with a reassuring gaze. “I know you very well, please don’t lie to me.”

Laura slumped back down on the floor and sighed, covering her face with her arm. “I’m such an idiot.” Her voice carried a note of pain and sadness that Lucy didn’t like. Laura was young and had her whole life ahead of her to do as she pleased, if she wanted to date Jared then Lucy didn’t see why she couldn’t. “Lucy, I think I’m in love with him.”

That had been a surprise. Lucy knew Laura had it bad for the guy, but love? That was beyond her expertise. “What?”

When Laura sat up and began talking there was an air of happiness about her. Just thinking about Jared brought a particular light to Laura’s eyes and happiness seemed to radiate from her. It was something Lucy hadn’t seen in her friend before. 

“Jared makes me feel like I’m on cloud nine, and the way my heart beat speeds up every time he walks by… I’m surprised nobody else has noticed.” Well, yeah, that was surprising. Jared, in particular, wasn’t exactly subtle either. Slowly, he’d worked his way into her heart and now it seemed there was no turning back. “I mean, he is human and all, but I just… can’t help it. He’s so… sweet and charming.”

Jealousy was an awful thing that Lucy had experienced a lot over the years, especially when she was young and her mother Imogene kept her isolated from humans because she was afraid of what Lucy could do if she got too carried away as she fed. Ergo, Lucy never had a normal life for a very long time in the early years. She missed out on a lot. When she grew up and went out into the world on her own, Lucy was still afraid of getting too close to anyone, scared that she might turn them into her meal or losing them to old age. Humans were so fragile. Lucy had never known love like what Laura was describing. She was extremely curious how things would turn out for her. 

Still, Lucy forced a smile and hugged her friend. “Laura, stop over thinking this. If you love this guy just tell your parents and make it official.” 

Laura pulled away with a sigh. She seemed resigned and completely stressed. “I can’t. You know what would happen if he finds out. He’s gonna hate me. Plus, my parents…”

“He can’t hate you.” Although Lucy wasn’t so sure about that. Humans tended to be weird when it came to the supernatural. “If he loves you…”

Laura cut her off. “Ok, so I really, really like him.” It was harder than she thought to admit it. Thankfully her parents weren’t there. “It’s not like I can just ignore him and break it off. But I can’t risk seeing the look of fear on his face when he finds out what I am. Plus, my parents. We’re fine the way we are right now.”

“Uh, no you’re not.” Lucy swung her legs to the side and sat up. “Laura, you don’t know how he’d react if you told him the truth. Most people freak out, yes, but what if he doesn’t? I’m pretty sure that poor bastard is so head over heels for you he’d accept you even if you were a hag.”

Laura chuckled ruefully. “Thanks, Lucy, but I can’t risk anything. Uncle Peter said—”

Lucy sighed. Because of course Peter had something to do with this. “Are you kidding me?” When Laura just stared at her in confusion Lucy had the strong urge to shake some sense into her. “Peter is the most paranoid son of a bitch that likes to meddle into everyone’s business. I’m surprised Chloe can put up with him.” She thought about the quirky chick and amended what she just said. “Actually, no, I can understand. Peter does have a soul after all.” If anyone could be called Peter's friend, it was Chloe. They were closer in age to each other than Talia was to Peter. In a house full of mostly teenagers, Lucy wasn't surprised Peter preferred Chloe's company. 

“Still. Peter is not stupid. He knows things.” Laura insisted. Already, Jared had become a great part in her life; of both of their lives, much to Lucy’s chagrin. “So I’ve decided not to tell him. He doesn’t need to know everything. We’re fine just the way we are. Our relationship is fine.” It was just a band aid covering the bigger problem but if Laura wasn't ready to take that step then Lucy didn't want to push her. Not too much at least. 

Lucy sighed, getting frustrated. At this rate Laura was never going to take the next step. Lucy blamed Peter for Laura’s lack of trust in anyone that wasn’t family. Caution was more than alright, it kept them from getting killed by hunters and other crazies but that was too much. Talia shouldn’t have let her brother poison Laura’s mind like that. “And what are you going to tell him if he ever sees you shift? Or if he overhears a conversation he shouldn’t? Sooner or later Jared is going to find out, the question is… under what circumstances?”

“I—I can’t…” Laura murmured wide-eyed.

“Why the hell not? I already told you—”

“No!” Laura cut her off. “The uncertainty… I’m not going to take a chance.”

“Take a chance on what?”

Both girls turned to see Derek coming into the living room, looking like the cat that ate the canary. He avoided stepping on Laura’s legs and sat down next to Lucy on the couch, ruffling her hair before turning back to Laura with a questioning look. “What won’t you take a chance on? The Laura Hale I know would not back down for anything.”

“Shut up, Derek.” Lucy replied, smacking his arm playfully. At the same time, she was proud of Derek, though. His comment had made Laura smile, lifting her spirits a little. “And stop eavesdropping, it’s not nice.”

Derek just rolled his eyes. “Yes, ma’am.” She shot him a glare for mocking her. That whole ‘yes, ma’am’ thing was to tease her about her age, which he didn't even know for sure. The little punk just guessed she was old without asking. Even if he had, she still wouldn't have told him. That was none of his business. If it wasn’t because Derek was, most of the time, a decent guy, Lucy would have already bashed his head in. 

To keep Derek from asking more questions, Lucy intervened. “Hey, so how’s it going with your mystery girl? There are rumors all over school that you, Don Juan, are dating someone.” So what if she tweaked the word out there a little? It’s not like Lucy could tell Derek that she’d heard the news from Jared.

It was Laura’s turn to be nosy. “Yeah, who is it?” She asked, leaning forward on her arms and making kissy faces at her brother. 

Derek looked between the two of them with a smirk on his face and pretended to lock his lips and throw the key away. “Nope, not telling.”

A year later, the fire killed the Hales. And to this day Lucy had no idea who that girl was. Everything sort of went downhill after that. 

* * *

“Lucy?” Derek inquired from behind her and Lucy turned around to face him with a sheepish grin. She'd been so lost in her thoughts, she must have looked like an idiot just standing there staring into space. 

“Sorry, what did you say?”

Derek eyed her with skepticism, probably wanting to ask, but he let it go. “I was trying to tell you that you might want to settle a few towns over. This place isn’t safe.”

Lucy crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. “Why, because of the Argents?” It was her mission to eliminate them, not run away from them. “I’m not scared of them, Derek. In fact, I’m hoping they try something. Did you know that that Kate,” It didn’t go without notice the way his heart jumped a little and anger set in at the mention of that name. Peculiar. “is believed to have killed without cause? A couple of months ago a few of "us" were wiped out in two freak accidents and she was around at the time.”

Suddenly, the tension in the room rose. Anger was coming off in waves from Derek. Lucy could smell it on him more than sense it and she wondered if it was stress, the full moon or both that was causing such aggressive reaction from him. Had he heard about what she’d been doing lately? She didn't think anyone would find out. Usually, the wolf was able to control himself better. Still, Lucy wasn’t worried. She'd been careful to cover her tracks.

“Calm down, Derek and just explain to me what’s going on.”

After taking a deep breath, Derek was able to calm down and they both entered the living room. Again, Lucy had that déjà vu feeling but she chose to ignore it. “There have been deaths and an alpha is responsible for it. Whoever it is, he killed Laura to obtain the status.” He paused and paced around the room, giving her time to assimilate things. “A couple of nights ago there was another murder and, guess what, I’m the alleged killer. To make matters worse, the only link I have to actually find the alpha is an immature kid who’s more worried about high school than saving people’s lives.”

Lucy sighed, Derek had never really been that level headed. “Have you been terrorizing high schoolers, Derek?” He shot her a look but didn’t deny it and that was the only answer she needed. “Ok, just tell me who this is and I’ll go have a talk with him. Us girls have a way to get things done.” Hopefully the kid wasn’t too strong-willed and she’d be able to ‘persuade’ him with some mental persuasion. It didn’t happen often, but some people were just too stubborn to be compelled.

Derek made a funny face. “His name is Scott McCall.” Lucy nodded. “He’s just some kid, but the alpha bit him and will try to initiate him into his pack. We have to find the alpha before he makes him do something that will put him in the Argent’s radar.”

“And I agree, however what is this crap about you being the killer?”

“The kid blamed it on me, probably to save his ass.”

“Hey, then why are we here?” she gestured around them. “Isn't the police looking for you?”

“Yes,” He growled. “they are. But they’ve already been around here a couple of times and they found nothing. I hid. Your car, however, might make them come back to investigate.”

Lucy rolled her eyes. Did he really think she was that stupid? “If they ask, I’m here snooping around an old friend’s house. Don’t worry about it.” She turned her back on him and ran a hand through the seedy walls. It was all black and there were holes in places. Everything was destroyed. Not a speck of what it used to be in sight. It was all just bare bones and ashes. “So, what exactly do you want me to do?”

“Well, for starters, you can’t show your face to them.” she turned around, ready to protest because otherwise, why the hell even bother bringing her back? “I’m not going to have them getting suspicious yet. Besides, they don’t about your… kind. Somehow, I don’t think they’ll take it well to have someone like you roaming around.”

“If I didn’t like your pretty face so much,” Lucy began, getting closer to him with her fangs out to show him what she was talking about. “I would have bitten your head off already.” To prove how powerful and alpha-like he was, Derek shifted and roared in front of her. She just closed her eyes and waited for him to finish then opened them and retreated with a smirk on her face. “Ew, dog breath, Derek. Go wash your mouth.”

Derek just shot her a look of distaste before pulling completely back and running out the front door. Taking it as a challenge, Lucy followed him. They ran all around the woods, avoiding the more populated areas closer to the road and chasing different animals for fun like they used to do on moon runs. Lucy was the first to spot a deer and let her instincts lead her to her prey. Slyly, Lucy jumped from one branch to another until she was close enough to the deer, barely even disturbing any leafs, and pounced down on it. At the last minute, Derek intervened and scared him off before Lucy was even halfway down. With a last amused look, he smirked and ran off.

“Derek, you’re so dead!” She snarled.

The bastard was good, she had to admit it. He avoided getting caught by running in zigzag and jumping up on trees from time to time. He was good, just not good enough. Lucy caught up and jumped ahead, halting and pinning him down. While werewolves were all about brute strength and enhanced senses, her kind was more stealth, and cunning when using their powers. So, yeah, Lucy could very well hold her own against him. Her eyes flared and her fangs elongated for threatening purposes. 

However, Derek didn’t seem impressed. He just roared right back at her and pushed her off him. Lucy let him do it and laughed all the way back to the house with him on her trail. Lucy was faster and far lighter on foot. Werewolves had all that hair and claws and stuff, it was probably what slowed them down, she thought with amusement.

“It’s nice to see that things haven’t changed.” Lucy said from where she was leaning against a tree. “I’m still faster and stronger than you, Derek Hale.”

In an instant, Derek was right in front of her with both of his arms at her sides, trapping her with his body. Like all werewolves, his body temperature was a few degrees warmer than the average human, and even more so than her. It was nice, very welcomed but, to be honest, quite distracting. Lucy wasn’t a dead corpse contrary to popular belief. She was very much alive and having Derek, a very fine specimen of the opposite sex, pressed up against her body emitting pheromones all over the place was very awkward. With their track record, they wouldn't remain clothed for much longer if they didn't put some distance between them. This close she could smell his aftershave, sweat and faint traces of that leather jacket he liked to wear so much. 

With their little run through the woods they worked up a sweat, got their blood pumping and now Lucy couldn't stop staring at Derek's neck where his vein was pulsing as red, juicy blood flowed through there. Her mouth watered. It was enough to get any respectable vampire interested. And Derek, he just stood there, growling and trying to intimidate her for another moment. He was basically dangling himself in front of her. Lucy didn't normally believe in the whole "you're asking for it" thing because it was degrading, but Derek was asking to be bitten. Out of nowhere, he struck the poor tree behind her with a heavy paw. The tree shook, and leaves rained all around them as he pulled away. Once the spell shattered, Lucy couldn't believe she almost munched on Derek of all people. They'd been in such proximity... Something that hadn't happened for a very long time. It was just so easy to fall back on old times sake and bask in the familiarity. 

When Lucy entered the house, Derek was sitting at the bottom of the stairs looking pensive. “I just don’t know if I can do this, Lucy.” He began, looking straight ahead and anywhere but at her next to him. “Without Laura… I just… our family is all gone and all I have left is a comatose uncle who can’t even utter a word.”

Knowing that human contact wasn't welcome when it came to Derek, Lucy opted to simply give him space. She had to admit his words did hurt a little. He didn't think he could count on her? “You have me.” She told him fondly, placing her elbows on her thighs and clasping her hands in front of her so she wouldn’t be tempted to reach out to touch his shoulder in a comforting gesture. Or his face. Lucy wanted to touch his cheek, rub her fingertips on his stubble like she used to do when they were together in bed. “And together, we’re going to bring that sucker down. Or, I could do it by myself, you know.” She added playfully to lighten the mood a little. “I’m just that badass.”

“Yeah, I’m sure the alpha will be impressed with those miniature fangs of yours. Right before he slits your throat.” The way Derek said it, as if stating a fact, offended her.

Lucy scoffed. “Let me tell you that I’m more than capable of taking care of myself,” she shoved him playfully to prove her point and he slid down a few inches to his left. “As you might have noticed earlier. Hell, I wasn’t even at my best. Just you wait until night falls.” Being a vampire didn’t mean burning when coming in contact with the sun, thankfully. It meant being weaker than she would be if it was dark. At night, like any other predator, Lucy was almost unstoppable. Her vision was better as well as her senses and her strength increased, all thanks to the moon. 

In true Derek fashion, he gave her a pointed look to let her know he was getting annoyed. This new Derek, the one that didn’t even smile at jokes and was always on high alert because he didn’t trust anyone was a crude reminder of everything that had happened. The smirk vanished off her face and she was brought back to reality. This wasn’t some social visit. She was here to help him with something. At least, he still seemed to trust her even after Houston.

Lucy got up and clapped her hands. “Chop, chop, Big Bad Wolf.” She told him, “Show Red Riding Hood where grandma and the hunters live.”

Derek nodded and together they walked to her car. He got in the back and Lucy drove away. The burnt remains of the house slowly disappeared from view, left behind rotting in the middle of nowhere amidst ghosts and painful memories. Lucy  took a deep breath and tried to stay focused on the task at hand instead of reminiscing about a time that was long gone. 

 _Focus on the present._  

At this point they really couldn’t afford to get Derek arrested. Everything would get even more complicated. She would eventually figure out who was who, of course. Meanwhile, the alpha werewolf had free rein to do as he pleased. There wasn't any time to waste. Derek showed her where the Argents lived, cautioning her to do whatever it took to keep her nature a secret or else they’d go after her, too. Did that mean she was the element of surprise? It was yet to be determined whether or not that was a good move. She would have to remain hidden in the shadows while Derek took the brunt of the action. Lucy wasn't sure whether that was good or bad. Would she be able to protect him from afar? What if things escalated and they needed to ask for more help? 

Imogene wouldn’t take kindly to having her daughter threatened and would most likely start a war. Since Lucy’s Dad died in the same fire that killed the Hales, Lucy’s mother was just itching to let out some pent up frustration. Then a psycho alpha would be the least of their worries. Besides, the vampire community couldn’t afford to lose any ‘members.’ Their numbers had slowly dwindled in the past couple of centuries for no apparent reason. Older, experienced supernaturals gone.

At last, after taking a quick tour of the town, Derek showed her Scott’s house. “Just in case something happens and you need to get him.” Derek had told her in a somber tone without meeting her eyes. Did he know something she didn't? Asking for help from a teenager mutant wolf wasn't at the top of her emergency list. 

By the time they were done, it was already getting dark and without the sun’s weakening rays, Lucy’s powers were recharging. Much like werewolves, vampy powers came from the moon, except that they didn’t exactly rule her life. Even without a moon, Lucy could still use her powers, just not at their full potential. With the surge of power came hunger. An intense hunger came over her and, once again, only Derek was there. His heartbeat next to her was mouthwatering. It was like a siren song beckoning her to drink. 

Out of nowhere, something ran in front of the car, paused and then ran back into the woods. If not for her fast reflexes, they would have ended up on a ditch with their skulls cracked wide open. The tires made a screeching sound as the car came to a halt after they skidded around the road. Ears ringing, Lucy wanted to hop out of the car and chase that little rugrat. Derek must have gotten a little beat up with the string of curses that came from the back. Very uncharacteristic of  him.“I'll be back. I gotta make sure that moron doesn’t kill anyone at school.”  He humped out fully transformed and howled. "Stay here, I don't want him to smell you."

Lucy didn't even have time to say anything, he was out of the car like a bullet to chase after that stupid kid. That kid wasn't his responsibility. Why not use him as bait? Well, she was relieved that he was out of the car. Lucy felt like a teenage boy who was unable to control his boners as her ‘miniature’ fangs suddenly popped out. The last thing on her mind was to go around biting people. That would be like flashing a neon sign pointing at her that she was a vampire. 

Alone in the car, Lucy had more time to contemplate her hunger, which was no good. Her stomach was making growly noises and so she decided to go get something to eat. Then logic kicked in and Lucy realized that there was no one around to glamour and snack on. Unhappy, Lucy got out of the car anyways to breathe in some fresh air while waiting for Derek. Fifteen minutes later the wolf was still gone and she was getting restless.

Take your mind off of it, she told herself. Concentrate on something else.

Lucy closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting her other senses take over. Around her, the night was alive. Animals were scouting for food. To her right, about two hundred yards, there was an owl flying. Lucy followed the sound of her wings flapping until it settled down on a tree a couple yards closer. Then, another sound took her by surprise. Someone was running through the forest in her direction. Wait, there were two sets of footsteps and they were running fast. One was heavier than the other. Derek. The second set of footsteps was lighter, slightly slower, trying to keep up with Derek. Lucy guessed that was Scott.

They were still about a few hundred feet away, so Lucy just stayed there, clenching her jaw and waited for them to come out of the woods. Not a minute later Derek was almost hauling a younger boy into the small clearing looking annoyed. All scratch marks from fight were long gone. Lucy knew wolves, always getting in fights, they were lucky they healed so fast. Their clothes were rumpled and dirty with mud in places. Well, that was the kid. Derek still looked, mostly, as cool as a cucumber.

“I thought I was laying low for a while,” Lucy told Derek as he approached the car.

The kid’s head quickly snapped up and pushed away from Derek, distrust written all over his face. “Who is she?” He asked brusquely.

Lucy rolled her eyes and got back in the car without giving him an explanation. She wasn’t here to make friends. Outside, Derek was, as always, being as vague as possible. Muttering something about a friend.

“So, who are you really?” Scott asked from the passenger seat as soon as they were on their way back to his house. “Derek doesn’t seem like the type that has friends or even knows what they are.” He went on, glancing sideways at Derek who just glared.

“I’m a friend.” Lucy replied, just as vague. “Contrary to popular believe, there is a heart and person beneath that mask of indifference. “

“No, there isn’t.” Derek snapped. “And I’ll rip out your throats if the two of you don’t shut up.”

Lucy glanced at Scott with a smirk. “See? He’s all candy canes and rainbows.”

Scott’s house was pretty, Lucy determined once they were inside in Scott’s room. It was warm and cozy, and well decorated. She liked it. Derek had looked quite annoyed that he had to help Scott get to his room but helped anyways. Lucy just hung out in the back, sitting on top of the boy’s dresser to see what happened. She sort of felt bad for him, too. He looked like a kicked puppy.

When Derek turned to leave, Lucy was about to follow him but Scott chose that moment to speak up. “Wait.” Derek sighed and turned around, raising his eyebrows. “I can’t do this. Can’t be this and be with Allison… I need you to tell me the truth, is there a cure?”

“For someone who was bitten?” Derek hesitated and Lucy waited for his answer just as anxiously as Scott. “I’ve heard of one. I don’t know if it’s true.” He added as disclaimer.

Scott leaned forward expectantly, a hopeful note in his voice. “Well, what is it?”

“You have to kill the one that bit you.” Derek deadpanned.

“Kill the alpha?” Scott echoed in disbelief and his heart rate spiked up. Lucy could hear it loud and clear. The desire to have a taste of his blood was greater than anything else at the moment. His anxiousness made her restless. Lucy desperately wanted to get out of there.

Lucy’s stomach growled and she swayed on her feet when she hopped off the dresser. Naturally, that drew the werewolves’ attention. With a sheepish smile, she said, “Uh, Derek? I think I’m getting hungry, we need to go.” Thankfully, he nodded. But before they left he seemed determined to say something else to Scott.

“Scott,” Still reeling from the news, the teen looked up at Derek with a slightly glazed look on his face. “If you help me find him, I’ll help you kill him.” Was Lucy mistaking or did his heart just blipped? She glanced at Scott, thinking that perhaps he caught it, too. Then remembered that he was new to all of this and probably wasn’t exactly acquainted with all his powers.

To his credit, Derek sounded convincing but Scott didn’t say anything and Derek didn’t exactly give him a chance either. He just walked out of the room and Lucy had to trail behind him like a little puppy.

* * *

“That’s a myth.” Was the first thing that came out of Lucy’s mouth once they were in the car, “And I take it that you know this? You lied to him.” There was no accusation in her voice, just stating a fact. She knew better than to use that tone of voice on him, he would just get defensive and start a fight.

Derek turned to her in disbelief. “How do you know? You’re not—” He shut his mouth, just on time too. Lacking fur and claws was a sore subject for her. Lucy didn't want to be a werewolf, but she did long for the same sense of family and belonging that a pack brought. “No, I didn’t lie to him. Not on purpose.”

“How do you not lie on purpose?” At the look he was giving her she shrugged it off and made sure to look back on the road. “Fine, keep going.”

“I—I’m not sure if it would work. But how in the hell do you know something like this?”

Lucy shrugged. “You’re not my first werewolf friend. Back in the day an alpha turned an unwilling boy, much like Scott, actually. You’d be surprised, but even back then people knew about Lycan myths and he tried that. Didn’t work.” She really hoped that Derek didn’t ask for any names, that bit of information was supposed to be a secret.

Derek stared at her with surprise for a moment before composing himself and looking away. “Great.”

“You wouldn’t have left him do it anyways,” Lucy pointed out. “If he did kill the alpha, then he would become the new alpha and he’s definitely not ready for that. You, on the other hand…” She trailed off, not knowing how he’d take that implication. Sometimes she felt like she was always walking on eggshells around Derek. He was a bipolar werewolf.

“I know.” Derek said through gritted teeth.

Finally, they arrived at the house where she was staying just outside of town. It was closer to the Hale house, far away from town. The most important detail that sold her on the small house was the lack of neighbors. She wouldn’t have too much trouble sleeping. Some old man had recently died of a heart attack and his kids couldn’t wait to sell. She’d bought it, and at a great price too considering the economy. Like Scott’s house, it was homey. She specifically loved the 70s decor. Thankfully, Derek didn’t make any comments about the house, or her age for that matter. Actually, he hadn’t made one of those comments in quite a while. Shocker.

Lucy threw her keys on a bowl next to the closet and hung her jacket before walking inside. In the living room, Derek just threw his own jacket over the couch and took off his shirt. “Uh, no. You’re not sleeping naked on my couch, Derek.” He paused and looked at her with an intensity that made her wonder what was wrong with him. Clearly, the full moon was still influencing him and it was past midnight. Way past midnight. Not that seeing him naked bothered her. Derek Hale possessed a great physique, one that many women, including Lucy, found impressive.

“I’m not stripping naked in front of an old lady,” He replied and Lucy’s fangs slid down, peeking through her lips. There was the old, charming Derek. Now she wished she hadn’t spoken too soon. “I’m offering you dinner.”

She stared at him for a moment before realizing what he meant and then raised her hands in defense, shaking her head as she took steps backwards. “No, I’m not drinking doggie blood. And, are you even legal yet?” Knowing how annoyed he got when she played the older card amused her to no end. The bitch face he pulled was even better. 

Derek got up from the couch and approached her slowly. More like stalked her actually. “When was the last time you drank?”

“Two days ago, so I’m ok.” She let out a nervous laugh. “I’m cool for another day or so. It can totally wait a couple hours.”

He nodded as if he understood and Lucy relaxed. That is, until he opened his mouth again. “Could you please just stop whining and get it over with? Not like it’d be the first time this happens.” He was right, it wouldn’t be. Back in Houston and New York when they’d been together it had always made her feel kind of weird doing it so she hadn’t drank often, not with so many willing donors walking around, but it had occasionally happened in the heat of the moment. On impulse, she walked over to him and sank her teeth into the soft part of the inside of his wrist with more force than necessary. He grunted in pain and Lucy took some satisfaction.

_Miniature fangs, uh? Well, take that Derek._

It all happened so fast. His rich, tasty blood flooded her mouth. Exhilarated, as always when she fed, Lucy got carried away and forgot that this wasn’t some poor bastard she picked up on the street. This was Derek who always smelled like leather, spice, and his cologne. He tasted even better. 

Letting go of his arm, Lucy jumped and wrapped her legs around his waist, which made him growl too close to her sensitive ears. Without meaning to, Lucy latched on to his shoulder, biting hard and more blood flooded her mouth. The next sound that came from Derek could only be described as a groan of pleasure.

“Stop,” Derek murmured and when Lucy didn’t stop, he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her away instead. “I said stop!” Before Lucy could utter a word, his mouth was on hers, bloody and everything. Derek didn’t seem to mind. 

Kissing Derek after such a long time still made her feel the same, like she was invincible and nothing could touch them. The chemistry between them was inextinguishable. Even after how they left things last time and the incredible amount of strain in their relationship, Lucy still wanted him. Sometime along the way, he’d transformed back into a werewolf and had sharp teeth that kept nicking her lips and tongue. As they kept kissing, Derek eventually pushed her up against a wall and Lucy let out a grunt. It didn’t hurt, just surprised her. Now that he didn’t have to fully support her, she allowed her hands to roam all over his shoulders to get some leverage. As her fingers traveled all the way up to grip his hair, Derek’s hands were free to do some exploring of his own. His warm, calloused hands got under her top and ran up her spine, leaving a trail of shivers in their wake. They went back down to grip the hem of her shirt and pulled it up. 

Derek planted kisses all over her neck and up to her earlobe, making her moan. Meanwhile, his hands hadn’t stayed still, they now lingered at her bra and when he didn’t find the clasp in the back, his growl made her smile. “It’s on the front, Sherlock.” She murmured into his ear. It was comical how almost instantly he was working on the clasp and throwing the offending thing over his shoulder. Now they were both bare from the waist up, time to work on the waist down.

Lucy hopped down and began working on his jeans, which she easily unbuttoned and pushed down his hips leaving to do the rest of the work as she took off her own jeans and underwear in one tug. Their clothes ended up strewn all over the hallway on their way to the couch. Lucy couldn't get enough of him. She wanted him now. To relieve some of the pent up frustration she'd built up over the past year, Lucy didn't hold back in any way. Neither did Derek. Nails racked down his back as they moved in sync. He nipped and bit all around her neck and shoulders as held on to him for leverage. It was wild, rough and a great welcome in the new house.

But Lucy wasn’t about to let Derek get away with much, she flipped them over in one fluid motion and laughed as she threw her hair over one shoulder so it wouldn’t be obscuring her view of his features. Lucy wanted to see every emotion that played over his face. Avoiding his bony hipbone digging into her inner thigh was a bonus. Derek didn’t seem to like their new position but there wasn’t much he could do. Already, he was pinned down and Lucy was having her wicked way with him. Among the moans coming from her, there were growls and howls that made her thankful she’d chosen a house that didn’t have neighbors nearby.

Derek battled for dominance with every kiss, embrace and thrust. Clearly, he had some issues of his own to work through when it came to their relationship. During a particularly pleasuring movement with his hips, Derek took the opportunity while she was distracted to move back to be on top. It was a mistake. They ended up toppling over the edge of the couch and landing harshly on the floor. Lucy took the brunt hit and was grateful for the new fluffy rug she’d bought. Screw rug burns. She accidentally bit his shoulder and enjoyed the taste of the blood. Startled, Derek threw his head back and let out a howl that made Lucy’s ears ring, followed by a second thrust of his hips that made the world explode into millions of sparkles, triggering something inside that went haywire.

Derek collapsed next to her on the floor breathing just as heavily. Lucy looked over at Derek and noticed how relaxed he seemed. It wasn't often that he let down his guard or even looked remotely content. The light coming from the window illuminated the living room a little, just enough to admire Derek's body and face. Lucy was not going to lie, that man was beautiful. She loved to lie down on his chest and listen to his heart beat. That's how she used to fall asleep. 

“We need to do this more often." And... that sounded very presumptions. She cringed inwardly. That's not how she'd meant for it to come out. 

“Lucette...” He started with a tone of voice that she did not like. Damn it, why did she have to go ahead and ruin it? And why did he have to use that name? 

Lucy sprang up and quickly wrapped herself in a blanket, trying to retain as much dignity as possible. “Don't call me that.” And she said it real slow so he would understand. He should count himself lucky that he even knew that name. Nobody was allowed to use it and he knew that. He knew she didn't like it. Her eyes prickled with unshed tears and her throat closed up as she tried her best to keep her emotions under control. This whole thing that just happened was nothing more than a stupid mistake. It shouldn't have happened. It's the full moon, emotions were running high and neither of them were thinking clearly.

Suddenly, all the bitterness and anger she’d buried deep inside her heart since Derek walked out on the life they’d built together was released. Lucy could not have picked a worse time to become an idiot considering how easily she’d fallen back into his arms, but hearing him call her that… she refused to let it go. No one had the right to call her by her full name anymore.

Nowadays, she was just Lucy.

Derek, too stunned, just laid there and before he could answer, Lucy got up and went up to her room. It was better to let him ride out the rest of the night on his own.


	2. Chapter 2

Lucy woke up in the afternoon feeling pretty energized. With so many things on her mind she'd tossed and turned for the majority of the night. The blood cursing through her veins was that of a very powerful wolf and Lucy felt almost like she was high. It wasn’t even a surprise given the fact that it was Derek, too. A surge of power was always one of the after effects of drinking his blood. Who was she to complain when her senses were enhanced? It didn't even feel like it was well into the afternoon with the sun high in the sky, and so she couldn’t help but be a little too aware of the werewolf in her kitchen making coffee. 

It was awkward and annoying, something she’d sworn she’d avoid. But Lucy was no coward and since last night’s activities were just something that they let happen in the heat of the moment, she had no reason to let it get to her. It had been a while since she’d been with Derek, not since… well, since he left last year. Still, she was willing to bet her right arm that he was going to ignore everything and let things go back to normal. Derek was the best at avoiding awkward subjects than dealing with them. Even though she was thoroughly embarrassed, she was an adult and would act accordingly.

With a sigh, Lucy got up and took a quick shower. As she was getting dressed, she caught sight of her bareback. Usually, Lucy avoided looking in the mirror if she could help it. The scars reminded her of something that happened the night before. When the tips of Derek's fingers touched the burn scars that covered part of her back, she noticed his hesitation and wondered how much they bothered him. Were they an awful reminder of what happened? Maybe that's why he couldn't stand her and left last time. Just because he couldn't see them didn't mean he didn't think of them. Hell, she did all the time. Now was not the time, though. Instead of dwelling on what she couldn't change, she changed into a pair of black skinny jeans and white t-shirt along with a navy blue cardigan. After five minutes of searching for her black boots she remembered that they were probably downstairs where Derek was most likely brooding. 

Right before running downstairs, Lucy grabbed her hair and pinned it up in a messy bun. In the kitchen, Derek was only dressed in his jeans. He was calmly sipping his coffee like he didn’t have care in the world, completely ignoring her as she sat down in front of him. “So, what are the plans for today? Any more puppies in need of rescuing?”

Derek met her gaze cautiously and shook his head. “Not today. Today you go play nice with Scott and his friends.”

“Are you telling me to go to school with them?” He was delusional if he thought that she would do something like that. “I like you, Derek, but you’re just not pretty enough for me to do something like that.”

He slammed his hand down on the table and leaned forward on his seat to get closer to her. As far as intimidation techniques went, Derek had a lot to learn, though. “No, you moron. I’m telling you to go and be nice to them. You’re a girl, maybe they’ll trust you more.”

Lucy scoffed. “I can get info out of them without having to do that.” He shot her an aggravated look and she finally gave in. “Fine, I’ll go pay Scott a visit today after school.”

Derek nodded and retreated back to his chair. “Good.”

“But first, I need to know what exactly Laura found.” She must have found or seen something. At least it seemed like it the way she just got up and left so suddenly without much notice. One day they were going about their lives, wondering why Derek left, and the next Laura was hell-bent on going back to Beacon Hills. She’d found some clue that led her to believe the Hale fire hadn't been an accident after all. Of course, Laura had to go back. Whatever it was, Lucy needed to know. Perhaps it would give her a clue about who the alpha was.

The room instantly filled with tension. Sadness, anger and frustration practically emanated from both of them. Lucy could almost breathe it in. Whereas werewolves were all about smell, Lucy’s kind was more akin to emotions and right about now, she was almost drowning in the onslaught of feelings.

“Laura found a list of names and a symbol,” he took out a piece of paper from his pocket and slid the paper across the table for her to inspect. It didn’t go unnoticed that he was careful not to touch her and his heartbeat was too steady. Was he trying too hard to control it? “I have no idea what it means, could be anything.”

Lucy looked at it closely and was barely able to make out any features. There was a four-legged creature with what seemed to be either the sun or moon almost on top of it. “Is that a wolf?” she finally asked him. “I mean, it makes sense. That’s a wolf and that’s the moon.”

Derek shrugged. “That’s what I thought, too. But I still don’t know what it means.”

“Ok, so what’s the other thing?”

“A name: Harris.”

Lucy arched an eyebrow. “That’s it? There’s gotta be quite a few people named Harris around here.”

“I know,” Derek said through gritted teeth. “but I think I got it narrowed down to one. It just so happens to be Scott’s teacher. Thing is, I can’t just walk up to the school and ask to see him. There are cops everywhere.”

Oh, now she understood where he was going with this. “You want me to go?” But he shook his head. “Then what?”

“I’m just telling you so you know where I’m going.” When she gave him a suspicious look, he threw his hands up in the air. “Just in case something happens, Lucy. At least you’ll know where I am.”

“Ok.”

He got up and put his mug in the sink before walking back to the living room. Lucy let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding and slumped on her seat. Most of the time she didn’t have to be so in control and could be herself but around Derek she just felt like she needed to have her guard up. It wasn’t trust issues that drove her to do this, it was hurt over how easily he left her and Laura. Lucy understood that he’d needed some time to himself, but why leave like that when they were supposed to stick together? That abandonment was something that she still needed to work through. And last night had been… well, Lucy could honestly say that she’d never felt better after feeding in a while, not since the last time she fed from him, and the sex was amazing. However, it was all because of the full moon, at least on Derek’s part as far as she knew. Derek had made that quite clear this morning when he didn’t even mention anything or even acknowledged what happened. That’s why Lucy was going to peg this as just sex and not blow things out of proportion because if she had her way it wouldn’t happen again. No matter how good his blood tasted and made her feel like she was on top of the world. And this time she wasn’t going to break her rules.

Lucy banged her head against the table and sighed. It was going to be extremely hard to be around Derek from now on with the way his blood tasted. She licked her lips tentatively as if the blood was still there and could almost taste it. Stupid after taste that wouldn’t leave her alone. It’s just… it tasted so good! Since she’d never actually drunk blood from a werewolf before him, Lucy didn’t know whether that was normal or not. Was it just Derek or did all werewolves taste the same?

_I’d like to find out_ , Lucy thought. Maybe that Scott kid wouldn’t mind to help her test her theory. There were no feelings between them, Lucy didn’t actually know him so it would be just like when she went hunting for a human and compelled him. Except that this time Lucy doubted that the young wolf would take it nicely if she even tried and didn’t work. People were touchy feely about things like that.

After drinking some coffee to wake up, Lucy went to the hallway and put on her boots. “I’m going to go looking for those kids, Derek!” She yelled over her shoulder. There was no response, but with her sensitive hearing she was able to make out the sound of his heart beating steadily somewhere upstairs, meaning that he was probably reading.

Finding Scott was easy. He turned out to be staying after school practicing for some sport in which they used something like a racket to pass the ball around. Lucy was intrigued by the game. It seemed so stupid. From the bleachers it was quite easy to spot Scott and keep an eye on him, which she did for a while before the boy finally made his way to her.

The looks that she was getting from some of the boys from school made her roll her eyes. They were just a bunch of hormonal-fueled teenagers that salivated at the sight of any female. It was kind of sad, really. Lucy almost felt bad for them.

“What are you doing here?” Scott said after he was done with practice.

Lucy offered him what she thought was a nice smile, better not to make him nervous. “I’m just hanging out. Derek told me what a good… uh… I honestly don’t know what this...” she gestured at the field where some players were gathering their stuff, “is but from I see, you’re pretty good.”

Scott’s gaze said that he still didn’t trust her. “It’s called Lacrosse. Now, what are you really doing here? Derek doesn’t give out compliments.”

Well, he had her there. But then again, she hadn’t been really trying to lie. “I just want to know more about you. Last night was… interesting.”

“It wasn’t interesting, it was the full moon.” He sat down next to her and, in a not so discreet manner, sniffed her. “You’re definitely not a wolf, you smell like…”

Lucy arched an eyebrow, knowing quite well what she smelled like but waiting for him to figure it out. If he said dead corpse, so help her god, she was going to kill him. “Like what, Scott?” she inquired innocently.

His brows furrowed as he struggled to pin point the smell. When he got it, he only seemed even more confused, which really amused her. “You smell like burnt sugar.”

Pleased that he got it right, Lucy pulled away smiling. “That’s right. But I swear I took a shower.”

That wasn’t what he was expecting. “But what are you?”

Lucy really didn’t want to give herself away. Her head was just fine where it was and she also happened to like her heart in her chest. Hunters didn’t treat all creatures the same. Werewolves were cut in half, but Vampires… they were decapitated and had their hearts cut out and burned for good measure. It wouldn’t be good at all if the hunters found out what she was and murdered her. Just thinking about it made her angry because that’s exactly what had happened to Laura. She’d been murdered.

“I’m a friend, Scott.” Lucy replied. “That’s all.” Scott didn’t look convinced. “I helped you last night, didn’t I?”

“No, you were helping Derek.” He pointed out. “So, how do you know Derek?”

That was an easy one. “He’s my friend.”

“Derek doesn’t have any friends.”

Lucy grimaced. That didn’t sound like the old Derek at all. But then again, the Derek from before and now were two different people. _I really shouldn’t be surprised_ , Lucy admitted, knowing that she couldn’t change thing. She couldn’t just bring his parents back to life.

“Well, he has me.” She felt the need to defend Derek. Scott hadn’t known him before at all, so he really couldn’t say anything about him. He didn’t understand. “And I’m here to help with the…” she lowered her voice. “alpha business.”

“So, this is the weird girl from last night that helped you.” It was another boy, same age and all as Scott. He had fair skin and short hair. He was also dressed in the same uniform, looking at Lucy with curiosity. His scent gave him away, though. This boy thought she was attractive. Hmm, this could be useful.

Lucy patted the bench next to her and put on the nice façade. “Yup. My name is Lucy.” Ever the polite girl like her mother had taught her, Lucy offered him her hand.

“I’m Stiles,” the boy said, eyeing her with distrust and ignoring the seat next to her. But at least he accepted her hand shake, and that earned him a few brownie points. The moment their hands touched, Lucy felt something within the boy. Something like a spark. An electric current went through her. That had never happened before. When she interacted with humans there wasn’t any more than a very small trace of magic, just enough to mark them as human with their particular brand of old, but useless by now, magic.

This boy, however, was very different. He had a very strong spark of power. Interesting. Lucy filed that information away for later. She tried not to react, only smiled politely and withdrew her hand. One glance at Scott and she noticed the look of suspicion he sent her way, but she ignored it.

“So,” Scott interrupted instead of calling her out on her brief hesitancy. “are you going to tell me what you are?”

Stiles’ eyes widened. “What, you’re not human?”

“For all you guys know I’m human, why do you doubt it?”

Scott snorted. “Because Derek trusts you and you smell weird. Besides, you’d have to know you can protect yourself to spend any length of time with him.”

Lucy didn’t like the way Scott talked about Derek at all. Perhaps it was the surge of power that Derek’s blood gave her, or just the fact that she disliked it when other people talked bad about Derek in general when they didn’t know him well. Because they definitely didn’t know the real Derek, the kind and charming man that lay beneath all those shields he’d put up around himself over the years. Lucy got angry and grabbed Scott by the arm, gripping just tight enough to let him know who the boss was. “Oh, I can definitely hold my own against anything. Derek isn’t what you should be afraid of.” She let go of him and was pleased to see that something had broken. The sad part was that he instantly began to heal. She would have preferred he suffered longer. 

“Hey!” Stiles exclaimed. He swatter he arm away from his friend. Lucy allowed it and just stepped back. “What the hell?”

“That was nothing, Scott.” Lucy warned. “You have no idea what I am, but you know that I'm dangerous. If I were you, I’d be careful the way you refer to him.”

Stiles looked between them with shock, “Yeah, no wonder you hang out with him.”

“I don’t appreciate your sarcasm.” She told him, which promptly made him back off.

Scott got up and glared down at her, his eyes going yellow like a normal wolf’s. “And I don’t appreciate having my friends threatened.” His fists were clenching and unclenching at his sides, giving his anger away. Well, that and his scent, it had become sort of sour.

Lucy got up, too, a lot calmer. “Well, now we’re on the same page. Derek is my friend and I don’t like it when he’s threatened, so I’m here to help. That means that we don’t have to be enemies, Scott. We really don’t.” With that she hopped off the bleachers and walked back to her car.

* * *

“How was it?” Derek asked her when she arrived without even looking up from the book he was reading.

Lucy plopped down on the couch and sighed. “Good, I guess. Teenagers these days…”

Derek snorted softly. “You sound old.”

“I’m old, young man,” Sometimes it was fun to joke around with him, as long as he wasn’t being a dick about it. This just happened to be one of those fun times. It was almost like back then during happier times. Almost. “You should respect your elders.”

“You look younger than me,” He pointed out.

Lucy sat up and stared at him with a raised eyebrow until he finally looked up with an annoyed look on his face. If there was something he didn’t particularly like was being scrutinized. “I don’t look younger than you.” She protested. “We look the same age, dumbass.”

Derek went back to reading without answering, deeming her not worthy of his time when he could be reading about History it seemed. “No, we don’t. You could pass for a high school kid with those doe eyes of yours.” Lucy was taken aback by that. Derek didn’t usually give out compliments.

Still, Lucy couldn’t help but feel… weird. Like butterflies in her stomach and quickly tried to shut that feeling down. They were supposed to be over. There was no time for something stupid like fighting attraction for the guy she was supposed to be helping in order to kill the Argents once and for all. All her focus should be on Kate, and how to kill her without drawing too much attention. Definitely not on the fact that Derek described her as doe-eyed or that his tone of voice was almost fond, or as fond as he was capable of sounding these days. Nope, Lucy wouldn’t read too much into the situation. She'd promised not to get tangled in the sheets with him again any time soon and she planned to keep that promise. 

Suddenly, Derek got up and placed the book back on a nearby shelf, picking up his leather jacket on his way out the door. “I’m going to pay this Harris guy a visit, see what he can tell me.”

“Won’t he call the police as soon as he sees you?”

“Doubt it!” He yelled over his shoulder and then he was gone.

With nothing else to do, Lucy decided to go on an adventure herself. Her quest would be to drive by the Argent’s house and somehow make friends with that Allison girl. Yeah, Lucy had done her homework. There was Chris and Victoria, too, Allison’s parents, at the house besides Kate. Hopefully, she would meet them, too. There more the merrier.

Outside of the Argent’s home, no one would realize that there was anything wrong with that house. It looked like any other house where a rich family would live. For now, though, it seemed vacant. Only one light on, on the second floor. A moment later Lucy spotted a girl looking out her window. There was a good chance that Lucy would get caught, but then she realized that the girl was staring up at the sky, not down the street where her car was parked. Good.

That had to be Allison, the girl that Scott was supposedly dating. Poor guy, he was probably going to not only get his heart broken, but his body, too if he wasn’t careful. It happened all the time with high school relationships. The heart breaking part, not the killing of course. That was just between psychos. Which brought her memories of Laura’s own fling a few years ago.

Jared. Just the mention of his name brought on more heart break thinking of the happy life that her best friend could have had with him. Lucy wouldn’t admit it aloud to anyone other than Derek but being back in Beacon Hills was painful as hell. She hadn’t thought about Jared for a very long time, but being back here was reminding her just how happy and fulfilled Laura had looked at his side during their brief time together. Except that things were different now. He was married to that girl from high school and Lucy could only swallow the bitterness that rose up in her throat. Marie is everything Laura wasn’t. In the long list, the most important one was her humanity. With her, Jared could be happy and have a normal family devoid of supernatural drama. That poor girl had been head over heels in love with him for the longest time. Lucky duck, she got a happy ending.

She pushed her feelings aside when it came to Jared, it was none of her business after all. Now that she was back in Beacon Hills thinking about him could drive her to do something stupid like visit him for a word, and that would be stupid. 

The Argents were her priority. They were going down one way or another. Lucy spent quite some time staring at the house, assessing its weak points and concluded that the windows on the upper floor were it. Also the garage. With her strength, it wouldn’t be much of a problem to open it. Problem with that was that the garage could be a potential arsenal.

Then she formulated a brilliant plan. One that would for sure give her the opportunity to meet Allison. Lucy got out of the car and took out a small pocket knife with which she slashed a tire badly enough to make it look legit and stepped back with a pleased smile to admire her handy job.

Satisfied, Lucy took a deep breath and walked over to the Argent’s house to knock on their door. Lucy was very much aware of the danger she was in, and hoped that the rest of the Argents wouldn’t get home while she was there. Her goal was to befriend Allison, not get shot by the head of the family.

Lucy put on the scared and nervous girl front to make it look a bit more believable. “Hey,” she said when a middle aged woman opened the door, barely able to contain her disappointment that it wasn’t Allison. “I’m sorry to bother you but… my tire just blew on me and I don’t know how to change one.” It was time to shift gears. No Allison meant no more chatting. “I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction for a mechanic or something.”

The woman gazed at her scathingly and Lucy felt like a bug under a microscope. At last, Victoria offered what should have been a friendly smile. Lucy had to give her credit, it almost seemed real. “Oh, well, there isn't one close by. But I could help you change it if you have a spare one.” She didn't sense any hostility coming from her, at least not yet. Lucy still didn't let her guard down. This woman seemed dangerous. There was an edge to her whole demeanor, something razor sharp and cold as ice. 

Lucy wanted nothing else than run away, the woman made her uneasy, but she didn't want to blow up her cover. Instead, she'd play the helpless damsel in distress part and nod along with whatever Victoria said. “Yes, that would be great!” The woman came outside and closed the door behind herself, walking side by side with her. Lucy’s fingers twitched, wanting to grasp the woman by the neck and hurl her across the lawn.

_Control, Lucy,_ Imogene would say.

“I’m totally incapable of changing a tire,” Lucy said to break the ice.

The woman just nodded and got to work. It was strange, though, how she hadn’t even asked for her name or anything. But it worked in her favor so Lucy wasn’t about to blurt out anything. Thinking that her plans were ruined, Lucy wanted to get out of there fast so she even offered to help. Only to be turned down by Victoria.

“Mom?”

_Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner_ , Lucy thought, patting herself on the back. It was Allison. Time to turn her charm on. After all, the girl was only human and seemingly unaware of anything supernatural. She probably wouldn’t even notice if Lucy tried to glamour her. Easy prey. 

From the floor, Victoria said, “Yes, Allison?”

Lucy stuck out her hand for Allison to shake and was glad the girl took it. Contact with the person she wanted to compel was always helpful. “Hey, there. I’m sorry, but I had to bother your mom to help me change a tire.”

Allison smiled and let go of her hand, stepping back. “Oh, well, glad she could help. But,” uh, oh. Lucy didn’t like the way her brows knit together in confusion. “how long have you been out here? I could have sworn I saw your car out here since at least half an hour ago.”

Damn, so the girl had noticed her. Without even looking behind herself, Lucy already knew the girl's words had raised Victoria's suspicion. Giving herself away at this point would not give her any sort of advantage over the woman. Lucy had to think fast. 

“Oh, yes.” Lucy waved it off going for nonchalant hoping they'd buy her teenage story. “I spent quite a while out here trying to get a hold of my boyfriend and when I finally did, he was too busy to come and help me.” She let out a frustrated sigh and placed her hand on her hip for dramatic flair.

A note of suspicion still lingered in her eyes. “I’m sorry, but at least we were able to help.” She got up from her crouched position and cleaned her hands with a rag that she must have found in the trunk.

Lucy nodded happily. “Yeah, you have no idea how much I appreciate it.” She reached inside her car and took out fifty bucks from her purse and offered them to Victoria who only looked at it with distaste as if it was about to bite her.

“No, no, it was nothing.” Victoria told her, folding Lucy’s hand into a fist and pushing it away. “Keep your money.”

“Are you sure, ma’am?” Lucy bit her lip trying to look like she felt bad. “I don’t feel comfortable taking up your time without paying you at least something for your trouble.”

Victoria still shook her head. “I’m sure.”

Lucy put the money in the back pocket of her jeans and turned to Allison. “Well, nice meeting you, Allison.”

Then Victoria seemed to have gotten the hint that she didn’t actually introduce herself. “Oh, I’m so sorry. How rude of me. My name is Victoria Argent and this is my daughter.” She quickly mended.

“I’m Lucy Morgan,” Or at least that's what one of her many fake IDs said. “I just moved into town and have no idea where anything is.” Lucy was staring at Victoria while she said this, but mentally, she was invading Allison’s mind.

_Wouldn’t you like to show me around town, Allison?_ Lucy quietly whispered in her mind. It was barely a nudge, a suggestion, and Allison quickly took the bait. “Hey, I could show you around.”

Lucy had to play right so she quickly shook her head. “Oh, no, I wouldn’t want to impose.”

Allison smiled warmly at her, curly hair swinging as she tilted her head off to the side. “It wouldn’t be, I’d be glad to help you.” Wow, the girl was too easy. “I recently moved into town, too. I know what it's like to be the new girl.”

“Really?” Lucy had the strong urge to bat her eyelashes. “Thanks, how about I, uh, pick you up tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Allison said.

Lucy handed her phone to Allison. “Here, would you mind giving me your phone number so I can call you and confirm?” the girl typed her number and gave her the phone back. It was really easy. “Well, thanks a lot Mrs. Argent. Really, but I gotta go.”

Allison even waved at her as she drove away. Lucy rolled her eyes. Really, this whole thing was too easy. Almost too easy. But there really wasn’t any reason for Victoria to suspect her for being anything other than human. Lucy was a great actress, so why did she feel like she made some kind of mistake?

“It must be nerves or...” Lucy reasoned with herself. “I’m just worrying too much.” Yeah, that was probably it. 

When she got back home, Lucy tried calling Derek but he wasn’t answering, which made her nervous. Derek always answered his stupid phone, so why wasn’t he now? A bad feeling crept up her spine and Lucy decided to go looking for him at the school. She caught a familiar heartbeat approaching the house along with the roaring engine of what she assumed had to be Derek’s Camaro and Lucy let out a relieved sigh. So he was alright.

Lucy quickly opened the door as soon as the engine was turned off and the car was parked behind the house where it wouldn’t be seen. Derek stormed in, fuming and Lucy shot Scott and Stiles a questioning glance.

“What the hell happened?” Lucy asked them as soon as they were inside.

“I almost had the Alpha!” Derek bellowed, pacing back and forth on the living room. “But you know what interrupted me?” He didn’t wait for her to try to guess, he just barreled on. His anger was solely aimed at Stiles. “The stupid police!”

Stiles rolled his eyes. “We went over this already, Derek. Stop whining.” When Derek growled at him, the boy yelped and hid behind Scott who just seemed annoyed.

“Ok, so what else?” Lucy wasn’t in the mood to spend the next hour or so in a room filled with that tangy smell of anger and testosterone flying around.

Scott spoke up. “The symbol that I’m sure Derek has shown you,” Derek threw the piece of paper at her and she caught it. “belongs to a necklace that Allison wears.”

Lucy arched her eyebrows. “Really? So, once again, the Argents are somehow involved in this.” Even more reason for her to want revenge. Her worried gaze shifted to Derek who was probably beating himself up over not catching the alpha. “Derek, are you alright?”

His eyes met hers and she saw the turmoil going on there. “Oh, I’m just great.” He replied sarcastically, frustrating her.

“So what are you going to do about this?” Lucy asked Scott, ignoring Derek for the time being. If he wanted to be difficult and act like a five year old throwing a tantrum then so be it.

Scott closed his eyes and took a deep breath, when he opened them he seemed determined. “I’ll steal the necklace to find out why it’s so important.”

Lucy nodded. “Good answer.” She would have volunteered for that one anyways. “Or, I could take a good look at it tomorrow.”

Scott’s eyes flashed yellow and his claws came out to play. His heart beat became erratic and Lucy was intrigued. Ohh, the boy did have it bad for the girl. “What?” He growled and took a violent stance, ready to attack. However, Derek was having none of it and appeared in front of him with a warning growl of his own.

“I met Victoria and Allison Argent tonight.” A vicious growl came from Scott. Wait, no, it wasn’t Scott. It was Derek, who slowly turned around to face her looking like he was about to kill her.

“You what?” His voice was deeper and he sounded quite menacing.

“I went over to their house and…”

Derek grabbed her by the neck cutting her off and holding her against the wall, feet dangling inches off the floor. “You stupid, little blood—” he stopped in mid-sentence only to let out a low growl in frustration. Behind him, Stiles was telling Scott to do something or Derek would kill her, which, even in her situation, she found hilarious.

Lucy kicked him in the chest hard and he stumbled backwards. “Don’t get prissy with me, Derek.” She dusted herself off ignoring the low level throb in her throat. It would go away soon. “They don’t suspect a thing about me. But I got Allison on my side.”

“Stay away from her!” Scott warned.

“Her family killed a few friends of mine,” Lucy snarled, getting closer to Scott. “and her aunt almost killed Derek with that wolfsbane bullet.” Then again at his own house. “She’s a fucking hunter, Scott, get that into that thick skull of yours. Hunters don’t care that you were human before, or that you might be friends with one of them. One day, that sweet little girl will turn on you and pump you full of wolfsbane.”

Her little speech didn’t seem to have much of an impact on Scott, it only infuriated him. “Allison is different, she’s…”

“Still the daughter of a hunter,” Lucy finished for him. “If she doesn’t finish you off herself, her family will. Why can’t you understand that, uh? Are you really stupid or just suicidal?”

Stiles then intervened with a nervous laugh, placing a hand on Scott’s chest and another in front of Lucy to halt her advances. “Ok, ok, guys. I think you’ve established your points. No need to start all the snarling and, uh, killing.” He pointed at himself. “Defenseless human here that doesn’t want to die.”

Lucy backed off, shooting Scott a last disgusted glare before joining Derek on the other side of the room. That kid was going to get himself killed, and probably the rest of them, too, if he wasn’t careful. The only reason why that probably hadn’t happened was because of Stiles, the special human.


	3. Chapter 3

Scott couldn’t believe that Jackson had found out about him being a werewolf. How in the hell did he do that? And on top of that, he wanted to become one. Jackson had just shot up to first place on the stupid list.

“How in the hell did he find out?” Stiles asked, echoing his thoughts.

“I’ve no idea!” Scott replied, trying real hard not to panic.

Stiles scratched his head and sighed. “Did he say it aloud?” Scott just looked at him, confused. “The werewolf word?"

“No, but he implied it pretty freaking clearly!” To make sure that he wasn’t being overheard, Scott lowered his voice. The last thing they needed was anyone else asking around werewolves.

Stiles, ever the optimistic, tried to make him feel better. “Ok, maybe it’s not as bad as it seems.” When weren’t things as bad as they seemed? Lately, everything that could go wrong went wrong. “I mean, he needs proof, right? And if he tells someone, who’s gonna believe him?”

“How about Allison’s dad?” It seemed pretty obvious and to make matters worse, Derek and Lucy’s warnings about how dangerous the Argents were came back to haunt him. Scott knew that he was taking a huge risk even talking to Allison, her family could accidentally find out about him and kill him. But… loved her. Just thinking about her gave him that funny feeling in his stomach. It was this tingling feeling in his stomach and heart. Every time he touched her Scott couldn't see anything else but how beautiful and kind and amazing she was. She symbolized everything sexy, funny, cute and amazing. Like a puffy cloud in the sky or a pretty puppy.

“Ok, it's bad.” Stiles finally admitted, scratching the back of his neck nervously and looking like he was gonna be sick. Yeah, Scott felt just the same. “Does he know about Allison’s father?”

Frustrated, Scott ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know,” He doubted it.

“Well, where’s Derek?”

“Probably at Lucy’s house, why?” God, just mentioning the girl’s name made him cringe. Whatever her intentions were with Allison, he was going to make sure she didn’t hurt anyone. But then Derek would probably be on his trail for that one and… no, he didn’t have time to worry about that one now!

Stiles grabbed his shoulder to stop him in the middle of a hallway. “I have an idea, but it’s going to take a little time and finesse.” Scott groaned. Another one? Somehow, Stiles’ ideas always ended up getting him physically hurt or in trouble, sometimes even both.

Trying to get out of it, Scott reminded him of the game that night. “It’s your first game, man.” Stiles cursed, he seemed quite stressed out and Scott wondered if he was the cause. 

“Do you have a plan to get Allison’s necklace, yet?”

“She’s in my next class, I’ll see what I can do.” Then remembering that they had yet to talk about Lucy, he said, “What about that girl hanging out with Derek. She’s not human and she’s not a werewolf.”

Stiles looked him in the eye with a serious look and gripped his shoulders. “Look, whatever she is, we’ll deal with it later. Right now we can’t worry about what she is, and believe me I’m still freaking out a little bit with the fact that there are other things besides werewolves. You need to focus on getting that necklace.” He released Scott and pointed him in the direction of his next class, giving him a little push.

“So, go get her tiger.”

Scott nodded and off he went, only to realize that girls were a completely different species. Allison got mad at him for showing her the pictures and just stormed off. Then she cried and asked him if he was trying to get back at her, which made him feel like a total jerk for making her cry. His heart clenched in his chest and he wished he could go after her. But the look of hurt on her face stopped him. What if he made things worse?

Or the million dollar question that Scott had been trying to push to the back of his mind ever since they broke up: What if this was some sort of signal that they shouldn’t be together because it was just not meant to be? They were too different, not even the same species anymore. Being a wolf instantly put him on the other side of the spectrum with the rest of the things that her family hunted. Like Lucy had said the night before, the Argents were dangerous and would kill him.

What was he supposed to do?

* * *

“What exactly are we doing in a teenager’s room?” Lucy wondered, picking up a thick book from the bed to inspect it. Surprisingly, it was about werewolves. She began skimming through it.

Derek just stood next to the closet, right behind the door, waiting like a creep. “We’re here because we need to find out if those two morons are doing their jobs.”

Lucy came across a particularly funny fact about wolves saying that they were allergic to silver and snorted. Deeming the book completely useless and stupid, Lucy put it under the bed and sat down. “You want me here or should I leave already to meet the Argent girl?”

With a defeated sigh, Derek turned a little towards her. “You know I don’t like this, right? You exposing yourself to this girl who could get you killed is moronic. Oh, the stunt that you pulled last night? That was downright suicidal!” He hissed, pointedly glaring at her.

“I know, I know.” Lucy did have to admit that it was a little suicidal, but she wasn’t stupid. If by some miracle Victoria figured out her secret, then Lucy would have acted accordingly and used the girl as leverage. Allison was a weak little thing that probably didn’t even know how to land a punch correctly, so it shouldn’t have been that hard to grab her. “But in my defense, I made sure that Chris and Kate weren’t there before making a move.”

“In your defense?” Derek scoffed. “You probably wouldn’t be here making excuses if those two hadn’t been too busy chasing me all over town.”

Lucy got tired of the chastising and approached the window, “I’m going to meet Allison. You call me as soon as you find out something, got it?” Derek just scowled and crossed his arms over his chest, a sure indication that he was going to be difficult. “Got it, Derek?” she repeated more firmly.

Still no answer. She would swing by later after talking to Allison or something. With some persuasion she was sure that Stiles would talk.

Allison arrived at the cafe in town right on time, which Lucy was glad for, she hated waiting. Instantly, Lucy played the cheery, nice person from the night before and waved Allison over to the table where she’d already ordered two Lattes for them.

“Thanks,” Allison said, taking a seat across from her and putting her back pack on the table in front of them.

Lucy shrugged. “I didn’t know what you liked so I just ordered a latte.” Did kids her age still like those? These days Starbucks was making coffee complicated with their fancy names, mixing a bunch of crap with coffee. Honestly, why couldn’t they just sell coffee?

Allison smiled and took a sip from her latte. “It’s alright, thanks.”

“So, what’s good around here?” Lucy wondered, thinking that the sooner she got something out of Allison the sooner she could go back to Derek and Stiles to find out what they knew. “I mean, other than murderous mountain lions.”

Allison’s face fell a little at that. “You heard about it?”

Lucy nodded. “Yeah, all over town. But they’re also blaming some guy, right?”

“You already know all that?” Allison tried to sound impressed but her heart beat had just gone up a few notches. She was nervous about something. Lucy nodded and Allison sighed, resigned to tell her everything. “Well, it’s true. The guy that turned out to be responsible for all the murders is Derek Hale.”  

Lucy widened her eyes and looked shocked. “For real? Oh my god, is this town safe?” Good one. Pulling the concerned citizen card was just priceless.

Allison quickly nodded. “Oh, yes. Definitely. The police are all over it.”

She sighed and pretended to be relieved. “Good. So, what happened to him? I mean, was he troubled or something?”

“Well,” Allison began with uncertainty. “his family was killed in a fire.”

“Hey girls,” Kate freaking Argent said, all smiles and shit.

Both Lucy and Allison looked over to see Kate take a seat right next to Allison as if she was just another friend who happened to be late. Lucy fought for control. Somehow she doubted Allison would turn a blind eye on her if she ripped out her aunt’s heart right there and then.

Allison shot Lucy a sheepish smile before turning back to her aunt with a frown. “Did you… follow me here?”

Kate hesitated, and Lucy could hear the lie even before it left her lips. “Well… you can’t blame me for being concerned about my favorite niece.” Concerned, ha! As if that bitch had it in her to feel anything but hatred towards other people. Oh, Lucy would enjoy eventually getting to her. “And you are?”

Lucy was careful not to grip her hand too tight despite the urge to crush her bones, “I’m Lucy, new in town.”

“Oh, yeah.” Recognition flashed in her eyes and Lucy tensed. “You’re that girl that Victoria helped. Nice to meet you.”

 Touching her made her skin crawl. “Yeah, she did me a great favor.”

“So, what are you two ladies doing here?”

“Just having coffee before heading out,” Lucy explained, taking a small sip from her latte. “Allison is going to show me around town.”

Kate nodded. “Great.”

“You know, she was just telling me about that Derek kid and the fire that killed his family.” Surprisingly, Kate’s heart blipped there for a moment and her eyes widened briefly. She tried to cover it up but it was too late, Lucy had noticed.

“Oh, well, there’s not much to tell. Derek was quite… odd. You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the one that started the fire.”

Allison seemed quite perturbed by that. “But… his whole family! I mean…” she trailed off.

Kate sighed as if this conversation was taking a lot from her. “I know, terrible.”

“I don’t think it’s him.” Allison went on. “I went over to his house the other day…”

“You what?” Kate interrupted, sounding alarmed. Playing the concerned aunt did suit her. “Allison, what were you looking for there? He could have been lurking around and after what happened…”

“That’s just it! Why would he try to kill us?” It was clear in Allison’s eyes and response that she was really unaware of anything supernatural. She was truly upset about that night at the school when the alpha attacked. Derek had told her all about it. 

“He tried to kill you?” Lucy gasped, making her presence known. Those two had gotten so caught up on their little argument that they’d forgotten about her.

Both turned to her with nervous smiles. “Sorry,” Allison apologized. “Yes, a couple days ago he killed a janitor at my school and nearly killed me and my friends. I know it sounds crazy… I mean, I’m still trying to process it.”

Kate waved a hand dismissively. “Allison, you’ve seen his house. His entire family died. It must have done some pretty interesting things to his head, don’t you think?” Oh, and that made a lot of sense, right?

“But that wouldn’t turn me into a psychotic killer.” Allison reasoned and Lucy couldn’t agree more.

“You don’t have to be psychotic to be a killer.” Kate told them, her voice holding a whole new meaning that escaped Allison but Lucy understood. She was talking from experience. Except that she was both a killer and psychotic. “You just… need a reason. And even then, sometimes… you can surprise yourself.” The knowing smile that appeared on her face, it made Lucy so mad. Once again, Kate quickly sobered up, though and went back to looking like a normal person and not the psychotic killer that she was.

“So you’re sure it was him?”

“Yes,” Kate answered. “It was him.”

Suddenly, Allison was standing up, looking a tad upset, and gathering her stuff. “Aunt Kate, we gotta go. I’m supposed to be showing Lucy around and we only have a few hours of daylight left.” She smiled nervously at Lucy who took the hint and got up, too. “Ready?”

Lucy nodded and they said their goodbyes to Kate, who stared after Lucy with a funny look on her face, as if she could see something on her that she didn’t like. Well, Kate was the bug that Lucy didn’t like and would be squashed pretty soon.

* * *

There really can’t that many places to visit in town, Lucy thought. But she was wrong. Hell, even way back when she visited Beacon Hills there hadn’t been that many interesting places. However, Allison did show her interesting places and even a possible hide out in case of an emergency, not that Allison said it could be. For Allison, the place was just an abandoned building with good ghost stories. Thankfully, though, they managed to avoid the part of town where Lucy knew that a certain person frequented. She wasn’t ready to see Jared just yet. Seeing him involved thinking about Laura, a still raw and painful memory that Lucy wasn’t ready to bring up so soon.

Lucy had grown bored a while ago and she was struggling to keep up with whatever Allison was talking about. Her phone ringing was a blessing. It was just a text.

_Meet me at the hospital in fifteen_

“What is it?” Allison asked mildly curious.

Lucy quickly deleted the text and offered her an apologetic smile. “Allison, I’m sorry but I have to go. My, uh, friend asked me to meet him somewhere and it’s important.” The girl actually looked disappointed. Wow, she really didn’t want to go back home. Odd. Perhaps there was hope for her after all.

“Well, then could you drop me off at my friend’s house?”

“Sure, where?”

And that’s how Lucy found out where some girl named Lydia lived. But she didn’t linger on it too much, she had bigger problems. Right after dropping Allison off, Lucy ditched her car and ran all the way over to the hospital, which took her about ten minutes. Running was usually therapeutic for her and tonight was no different. It helped clear her mind and just let go, using her senses to find Derek.

She was surprised how easy it was to track him down. There was a particular smell that distinguished Derek from any other wolves she’d ever met. Instead of getting a bit overwhelmed by the ever present smell of earth and trees on him, there was that other smell that appealed to her, some sort of mix between sunshine and rain. It had always been nice.

“You’re late.” Derek deadpanned when she arrived and got into the jeep on the driver’s side.

“Sorry, I was out with Allison.” Then noticing Stiles’ scent she asked, “Where’s your human friend?”

“He’s inside, looking for answers.”

Lucy made a face when it became clear that he was still mad at her. “I’m I going to have to pry everything out of you? We don’t have time for this, Derek.” Usually Derek would either give her the silent treatment or become withdrawn, but that wasn’t an option at the moment. They were at the hospital on business. They would deal with their personal problems later like normal people. But he always did this to her. When he was upset he became withdrawn instead of opening up to her so they could talk. It was one of his worst characteristics.

“There was a text that someone sent Allison telling her to go to the school the night of the attack.” Derek said through gritted teeth. “She thought it was Scott but he didn’t have his phone at the time. We traced the text and it came from Melissa McCall, Scott’s mom’s computer. Stiles is inside looking.”

“I doubt this Melissa would do something like that.” Mothers were fiercely protective of their children. 

Derek gave her a ‘duh’ look and took out his ringing phone. He listened to Stiles telling him that he couldn’t find her, then replied, “Ask for Jenifer, she’s been looking after my uncle.” Poor man, Lucy thought with sadness. What happened to him was really horrible and not even his healing powers could help that much if what Derek had told her was true. Lucy really felt bad for him, to be trapped like that after watching his whole family die. As it was, Lucy herself was lucky to be up and about after the fire. The burns she’d suffered hadn’t been nearly as bad as Peter’s but she’d still been out of it for a while.

She could only imagine the horrors that were likely to keep replaying in his mind. Thankfully, Lucy didn’t remember much of that night. After getting Peter out, she’d collapsed, too weak to do anything other than crawl away from the remnants of the Hale house. She hadn’t even been able to mourn her father’s death for a while as her body tried to heal itself and she remained unconscious. The fire had reached her, too and burnt a good portion of her right side. It was enough to send her to the hospital for weeks. Her leg, arm and part of her torso had been so screwed up that every time she looked in the mirror she was still amazed to see it slowly healing. 

Unlike, Peter, Lucy was able to make a full recovery pretty soon with a few scars and tons of emotional trauma. Years later, and her body looked much better. Still, she couldn’t help but feel like an ugly piece of bacon who had been left on the damn skillet for too long. Any sort of flame still freaked her out to this day. But she thanked her lucky stars every day for being alive when the Hales and her father had died.

“Yeah, well, he’s not here either.” Stiles replied and Lucy jerked her head to see Derek’s reaction to that.

Derek was staring at her with worry and his heart beat stuttered. “What?”

“He’s not here either,” Stiles repeated, sounding annoyed. “he’s gone, Derek.”

“How the hell is that possible?” Lucy asked him, that man had been comatose for the past six years. He couldn’t just get up and walk. There was something definitely wrong with that picture and Lucy had a sinking feeling in her stomach with the answer that formulated in her head.

"Stiles, get out of there right now!” And Derek seemed to have come to the same conclusion as her. “It’s him, he’s the alpha. Get out!"


	4. Chapter 4

Derek threw the door open and ran inside the hospital, Lucy on his heels. At first Lucy felt numb, unable to believe Peter was the alpha. If it was true then he'd murdered Laura, his niece. Peter murdered someone in his pack. One of the few left. Why?! Gone was the sympathy she’d felt for the man. How could he have done that? 

In seconds, they were inside and facing the alpha after Derek knocked out the nurse that had been probably helping him. Lucy kicked her body off to the side out of spite. 

“That’s not nice, she’s my nurse.” Peter said in mock hurt.

“She’s the psychotic bitch helping you kill people,” Derek growled.

Lucy turned to Stiles and told him to get out of the way, which the scared human did without complaining. Right now, the human was better off being as far away from here as possible if he wanted to live. The situation was about to get ugly and she didn't want Stiles to be one of the casualties. 

Peter then turned his attention to Lucy, who was standing next to Derek on the narrow hallway with her hands clenched into fists, trying to control herself. She was going to attack, just not yet. First she’d assess the situation, see where her opponent was the weakest, just like her mother had taught her. Lucy was not above fighting dirty. 

“Lucy?” He asked, cocking his head to one side as if he couldn’t believe it.

“How could you do it?” Lucy shook with rage. The answer to Laura's murder was staring at them right in the face and they were too blind to see. _Too trusting_ , Imogene's voice whispered in her ear. Laura would have never expected an attack from someone in her family. 

“Think I killed Laura on purpose?” Peter sounded indignant as he approached them. “My own family?” Upon closer inspection she started to notice more about the man. One side of his face still remained badly burned much like the skin on her back and part of her arm used to be, contrasting with the rest of his unblemished skin. Those scars were all too familiar. She’d had them herself for a while after the fire and some still remained, staring back at her on the mirror. He’d changed so much. Lucy still remembered him from before the fire, he’d been the handsome, cool uncle that still acted like a child on occasion. A man who would have done anything for his family.

Absolutely anything.

Lucy’s father once told her to never underestimate him. “He’s cunning and will always come out on top no matter what. In my life I’ve only come across people like him a few times, and they’ve always survived when others didn’t.” Ever since, Lucy had kept a close eye on him, but then the fire happened and she’d completely disregarded that advice. Could it be because other than that her father had loved the man like a brother to the point that he died for him? With what little strength he had left, Gabriel got Lucy out of the burning house with Peter. The person standing in front of them wasn’t the same one. This Peter was psychotic and a killer just like Kate. A dark, and twisted version of the old Peter, someone who was extremely dangerous.

Beside her, Derek growled and shifted, his eyes turning electric blue before he attacked Peter using the wall as leverage to launch himself at the other wolf. But that was a mistake. The older wolf grabbed him by the jacket and pushed him against the wall with enough force to put a dent on it. As Stiles scrambled away, Lucy bared her fangs to attack, concerned for Derek who grunted in pain. Nothing could happen to him. 

Lucy approached him head on, and even managed to scratch the side of this face that was still badly scarred, but then Peter roared and sent her flying down the hall where her back hit the reception desk with a loud thud. In one quick motion, Lucy got up and crouched down prepared to keep going until the very end. 

Peter was now dragging Derek by the neck towards her, talking as if he wasn't fighting his own family. “My mind and personality were literally burned out of me.” He seemed so calm. Underneath that fake calm facade Lucy could feel his anger, it was almost palpable. At this point Lucy didn’t care, she ran at him and kicked him square in the chest, sending him sliding backwards a couple of feet. Derek, thankfully, was released and with her help, he got up.

“Are you alright?”

Derek grunted in response and she took that as a yes.

From the floor, Peter chuckled as he slowly got up. He didn’t seem to have a care in the world. “Well, well. It seems that your father trained you well.” His comment drew a growl from Derek and Lucy, who didn’t want him talking about her father for obvious reasons. Deep down, Lucy had always harbored some bitterness over the fact that Peter got out alive while her father burned inside the house, but she’d never mentioned it. Then Peter had to go ahead and do this, kill his own niece along with a bunch of people and Lucy downright hated him. Her father would have never done something like that. He deserved to live more than Peter. 

“Yes he did.” Lucy replied, taking a less defensive stance but remaining alert. “Want to see what else I can do?” To prove her point, Lucy let her true self show. Her eyes flashed silver, her teeth sharpened as her fangs slid out to tear flesh and her jaw ached with the need to clamp it down on Peter’s throat to rip it out. Completely transformed and with all her powers, there was a raw beauty to her that made her seem unearthly and all powerful but he didn’t seem fazed one bit.

Close by, she heard Stiles gasp. Whether it was in fear or awe, Lucy couldn’t worry about it. The important part was that for now the boy was safe.

Feeling a lot more confident, Lucy took on the role of speaker. “How could you kill her, Peter? She was your niece, and all you had left besides Derek. Now, I’m going to kill you.”

Peter just laughed and rolled his eyes, then sobered up and looked at her with pity. “Oh, you’re serious.” Still amused, he once again attempted to get closer to them, stopping a few feet away when Derek growled. The fact that Derek wasn’t trying to kill Peter yet meant that he also wanted to hear the answer. “I told you, I was driven by pure instinct. I would have never killed her otherwise. It was an accident. But you… Oh, Lucy you can’t call me a murderer without biting your tongue.” Oh, that was just a low blow. She’d confided in him and now he rubbed it in?

Despite the fact that Lucy’s hands were far from clean of blood, she had never killed a family member or someone innocent for that matter. Every single person she’d ever killed had deserved it. Laura, on the other hand, hadn’t.

Before Lucy could retaliate, Derek was closing the gap between them and punching Peter on the face hard enough that his head snapped to one side. “She’s nothing like you!” Peter’s answer was to butthead Derek, halting his next attack and kicking him square on the chest like he’d done earlier to Lucy. Derek slid down towards her, ending in a heap on the floor. How was Peter defeating him so easily? Derek was a skilled fighter who trained for years to defend himself and his sister. She had no idea the alpha power could reach this magnitude. Talia never flaunted her power in front of them. Lucy had known she was powerful, but Peter was twisting everything. 

So it was her turn to strike back, she decided to use her speed to her favor. Peter must have seen her coming but he was too slow and Lucy grabbed him by the lapel of his leather coat, throwing him against a wall with a lot more strength than he’d done with Derek. Lucy head-butted him, taking pleasure in seeing the smear of blood on the wall behind him.

The blood made her pause a little though. It was from a wolf, quite more powerful than Derek, but it didn’t hold any appeal. For her it was just blood. She wondered what in the hell was with Derek that gave her such high. That pause cost Lucy and she ended up getting slashed with Peter’s claws across her stomach. Lucy let go of him and stumbled backwards. Looking down she saw a river of blood gushing out of her wound. Her red stained hands wouldn't hold her together for long, but hopefully long enough for the healing to kick in. At that rate she wouldn't be of much help anymore. 

Peter smiled. “You can’t defeat me, Lucy.” Then his expression sobered up and he turned to see Derek struggling to get up. Lucy and Derek exchanged worried looks. Without letting Peter know how useless she'd be soon, Lucy hoped to convey her hesitation to Derek. She tried to tell him she wouldn't stop no matter what. This time it would be different. They'd stop Peter even if it's the last thing she did. “The two of you have no idea what it was like for me, slowly healing cell by cell. Even worse, coming back to consciousness.”

“You killed Laura!” Lucy reminded him. As much as his words stung, she couldn't let him see that. The scars left by the fire had done more than just leave scars on her flesh. For a long time she hadn’t been able to look at herself in the mirror or let anyone else see her, too vain and prideful to show her still healing scars. Her experience wasn’t as bad as Peter’s, but she'd had Derek, Laura and her mother to support her. Laura. 

“Yes,” she didn’t buy the remorse in his voice and from the looks of it, neither did Derek. “Becoming an alpha, taking that from Laura pushed me over the edge in the healing process.”

Derek must have noticed that Lucy needed a little more time. With a nod of his head, he got up and took a swing at Peter, who effortlessly ducked hits twice in quick succession before grabbing Derek’s fist. The sound of bones breaking made Lucy jump in to help, only caring about protecting Derek instead of worrying about her stupid wound that was taking its time to heal when it should have healed a lot sooner.

Derek needed her the most. He was already bloody and his grunt of pain as his knees gave out under him drove Lucy to tackle Peter a second too late as Derek was flung through a window. Peter collapsed against the door and Lucy was relieved when her fingers sank into Peter’s side at the same time her jaws clamped shut around his shoulder. Her sole purpose was to tear and main him. Blood loss had the same effect on any Supernatural as it did on a human. The only way to defeat him was weakening him if they wanted to get out of the fight alive and finish him off. Lucy had severely underestimated Peter's power. Her determination faltered for a few seconds as the taste of his blood flooded her mouth. Unlike Derek's blood, Peter's was unappealing. It lacked substance. 

In her weakened state Peter managed to push her off him with little effort and sunk one of his claws deep into the wound he’d made earlier while the other slashed her throat. Blood pooled in Lucy’s mouth and she had to roll her head to one side to cough it up so she wouldn’t choke on it. The pain in her abdomen was excruciating, and for a moment everything went black. Her brain registered nothing but pain and it was then that Lucy realized just how wrong this whole picture was. If Peter was the alpha, then that meant that he’d probably already known about her coming here. Could he have poisoned his claws or something? It sure as hell felt like it.

When Lucy finally came back to consciousness, the place was silent. She tried sitting up, but she was still too weak to do more than roll onto her side. That’s when panic set in. There was only one heartbeat close by and it wasn’t Derek’s. Derek could be dead. If Peter had already killed Laura, nothing would stop him from killing Derek too now that he knew he was the alpha. Peter had to know that Derek would stop at nothing to extract his revenge, and that neither would she. So why was she alive?

“Derek!” Lucy rasped out. Silence. “Derek!” Out of sheer will, Lucy got up and realized that there was no stench of death lingering in the area. Derek was still alive. 

As she tried to prop herself up on her elbows she slipped on something wet. Looking down she noticed the pool of blood she'd been lying on. With what little strength she had left, Lucy managed to crawl a few feet then used a nearby wall to get up. Spots danced in her field of vision for a few seconds until she found her footing. Lucy  decided to follow the sound of heavy breathing and erratic heartbeat. She limped to the door and opened it, only to find Stiles hiding there, traumatized and scared half to death. _Well, at least the human is alive._ “I need your help.” She wheezed and he quickly scrambled up to hold her just as the last bit of her strength failed her. 

The moment their hands touched Lucy felt that weird buzz from before. By the look on his face, so did he. Wide eyed, Stiles gulped and nodded, shifting his grip on her slippery hands. “What can I do?” The poor boy looked freaked out and his heartbeat was still going strong.

“I need you to take me to my house.” Now that she was more or less better, Lucy could feel Derek was alive and well. One of the lovely side effects of drinking so much blood from him, they formed a bond and she could sense him. It would last only a few days, but it was better than living with the uncertainty of whether or not he was alive.

“Ok, but what about Derek?”

Lucy put an arm around his shoulders to support herself, letting him know that she wanted to leave now. He took the hint and began walking towards the exit. “I don’t know.” Oh, god, just walking was torture. Her legs felt like heavy led. _One leg in front of the other_ , she kept telling herself. “He’s alive, if that’s what you’re asking. But I don’t know where he is. That’s where you and Scott come in.” Her insides felt like they were on fire, she was exhausted and didn’t think she could stand going without blood for much longer.

“What?” Stiles exclaimed, sounding surprised and a little panicked.

“You have to help me find him, Peter could kill him.” And the worst part was that Lucy would feel it. She would know the exact moment it happened and it would hurt like hell. Not because of the temporary bond, but because of the fact that… well, she couldn’t deny having feelings for him even now after what happened between them. Plus, Derek was Laura’s little brother and that instantly made him very important to her. She'd made a promise and planned to keep it. She owed it to Laura to keep him safe when she couldn’t.


	5. Chapter 5

When they arrived at her house, Lucy instantly caught Peter’s scent nearby. She stopped Stiles from getting any closer. “Take me to your house.” She told him through clenched teeth. They'd die if they went another round with the alpha. 

“You can’t go to my house!” Stiles protested. The way he was gripping the steering wheel, so hard that his knuckles were white, plus his still erratic beating heart was evidence that he was freaked out of his mind. “My dad will be there, and he won’t be exactly happy.”

Lucy glared at him, “Right now I’m your only hope to defeat the alpha and I can’t do that if I’m dead. So, yeah, take me to your house.”

Stiles rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath. “This whole déjà vu thing is getting on my nerves. Is there any chance that any of you could be nice for once? Honestly!” She just kept glaring, “Fine, I’ll take you to my house.”

Lucy relaxed a little. “Good.” She didn’t like feeling this weak and after the hit to her ego things weren’t going that well with her. “Wait, we need to get Scott. Where is he?”

“Scott?” Stiles said in disbelief. “Oh, God, Scott! The alpha might go after him.” He made a U-turn and went back to the school, much to her relief.

When they got there, Stiles bolted out of the car in search for his friend before Lucy could tell him that there was no more danger. The strange part was that not only was Peter’s scent lingering but Derek’s, too. Why would the alpha haul Derek around? It didn’t make any sense. Derek wouldn’t take too kindly to being treated like rag doll. What was going on? Lucy was still wondering about that when Stiles came back out followed by Scott. Both of them seemed worried, but Scott more so.

“Derek is on Peter’s side.” Scott told her as soon as he was in.

“You’re crazy,” Was the first thing that Lucy thought about saying. “Derek would never do that.”

Scott scoffed. “Derek was here, Lucy, and he just stood there while the alpha threatened to kill people. I’d say he’s definitely on his side.”

Lucy paid attention to this heartbeat trying to determine if he was lying. No blips or anything. He was telling the truth. Or at least what he thought was the truth. Knowing Derek, he was probably pretending to be on Peter’s side. He had to. Surely he wouldn’t forgive him so easily. The son of a bitch killed Laura, his sister! “He can’t be, dammit! Derek isn’t so easily persuaded.” If anyone knew how to hold a grudge, it was him. 

“Oh, but that’s not it.” Stiles said, “Tell her the rest, Scott.”

_More?_

“Peter sunk his claws into my neck and I saw… things.”

“Things? What type of things?” Lucy was not in the mood for suspense.

Scott gave her an odd look. “I saw the fire through his eyes. And I saw you. You saved him.” Scott said slowly with a faraway look on his face and Lucy froze. Then he shook his head as if to get rid of the horrible memories and went on. “The people he killed? They weren’t random. They all had something to do with the fire and Peter’s now hunting them down one by one and they wanted me to join.”

Lucy leaned forward on her seat and grasped Scott’s arm. “Did you see him… kill Laura?” Despite all the incriminating evidence Lucy still held a small hope that somehow Peter was lying about killing Laura. She had to be sure that it was him. 

Scott shook her off and nodded. “Yes. It was an accident, though. Just like he said.” Oh, so Stiles had filled him in.

Numbness spread through her body and suddenly Lucy felt overwhelmed by everything. Derek was an idiot. Peter was the freaking alpha and the worst part was that Lucy still had no closure on Laura’s death. Perhaps she would never have it even if Peter died. Because at the end of the day, Laura’s death had been nothing but a fluke and it could have been prevented. If only she’d let Lucy help her. Lucy would have given her life for Laura in an instant. Why didn’t Lucy insist on coming with her?

* * *

“I’m an alpha, Lucy.” Laura had told her the day she left. She was unsmiling and grim but confident that this time something would turn up. There were leads, solid leads that could be used and she was optimistic. “There’s not much out there that could hurt me.”

“I know, Laura. You’re the Big Bad Wolf of the story.” That lame joke barely got a reaction out of Laura. At the moment Lucy couldn’t think past the fact that once, a billion years ago, her friend would have at least smiled and/or rolled her eyes at her.  Emotionless Laura wasn't something she'd gotten used to yet. “Still, I can help you. C’mon, what if you get in trouble?”

Laura’s eyes flashed red for a few seconds, then she blinked and gave her an expectant look. “I’ll be fine.” She turned back around to finish packing, and let out a tired sigh. “If I get in trouble, I’ll call you. Promise.”

And that’s how Lucy finally gave up. The thought of her friend getting hurt, really hurt, hadn’t occurred to her. As an alpha werewolf, Laura was very strong and powerful. She was smart and cautious, always thinking things through and coming up with a plan. Unlike Derek, Laura never went into a situation blind, she was the least likely that Lucy needed to worry about and the last thing she’d wanted to do was push Laura. For quite a while now, their friendship had been deteriorating to the point that they barely talked. They lived together so they saw each other on a daily basis and had conversations about every day topics, but they never really talked to each other. Laura had closed off on her, barely talked about her personal life and kept a lot of secrets ever since she found evidence about the not so accidental fire where her family died. She was constantly coming home late and lying about her whereabouts. Lucy didn't believe it at first and Laura didn't really give her much to go on either. All the secrets started with whoever gave her the lead and Laura refused to share anything with Lucy. 

None of them ever talked about it, but Derek’s abandonment really hurt them. As soon as Laura rolled back in town, Houston at the time, Derek suddenly turned sour and left Lucy. Their nice and calm life that they’d built together for a few years was destroyed. Lucy was left with a broken heart and no best friend. As hurt and angry as she’d been at Laura for pulling away without an explanation, she shouldn’t have let her go. But Laura could be very persuasive and Lucy wished her friend hadn’t gotten killed. Lately, she just felt so… lonely.

* * *

Lucy slept all morning and woke up at six in the afternoon, feeling a lot better but still weak. The blood loss from the night before was beginning to make her feel hungry, too, though she could function. For now. “Stiles, what are you doing?” She asked. 

Stiles jumped on his seat in front of the computer and sighed when he saw her sitting up on his bed. “I’m waiting for you to wake up, of course. Is it normal for you to sleep this much?” The tone of concern in his voice was a nice change. A lot more than she expected from him, that’s for sure.

“It’s normal.” She gingerly got up from the bed and stretched, noticing that her abdomen was completely healed when her top rode up to reveal pale, unblemished skin. Her shirt, though, was completely ruined. “Now, where’s Scott? We need to go looking for Peter and Derek.”

“Scott is out looking for Allison.” Was it just her or was he trying extra hard to keep his eyes locked with hers? He was definitely nervous.

Lucy nodded. “When is he back? We can’t keep wasting time.”

“He’s not coming back, Lucy. He’s going home after that. I do have news for you, though.” Lucy sat back down and waited for him to speak. “The Argents think that Jackson, one of my classmates, is the other beta they’ve been looking for.”

“So he’s not a werewolf?”

Stiles shook his head. “He wishes. Somehow he found out and threatened Scott to rat him out if he didn’t become one, too. But we have that one under control.”

That was a huge weight off her shoulders. “Great, one less thing to worry about.” Even though Lucy was feeling better, her powers weren’t completely back, yet. She was weakened, not only by the loss of blood but also by daylight. Her limbs felt heavy and sore, a pounding headache made her a little nauseous and difficult for her eyes to adjust. It felt like someone was digging into her eyes with a rusty butter knife. With every breath she took, Lucy felt like she instantly needed three more just to be able to stay awake. She needed blood, her iron levels were probably dragging through the floor by now. The taste of Derek’s blood came to mind, flaring the hunger deep in her belly for that tangy, metallic taste with a touch of magic. She licked her chapped lips, imagining how pleasant and welcomed his blood would be right about now. It just tasted so good.

“Uh, Lucy?”

Lucy snapped out of it, turning back to Stiles. “What?” In the blink of an eye, her features went back to normal from bright silvery eyes and elongated fangs to normal 20 something year old girl with black hair and blue eyes.

Stiles gestured to her eyes. “Your eyes… they were… silver.”

Well, crap. How nice to have Stiles witness her bloodlust. “It’s nothing. Could we please just go already?” People tended to freak out when she explained her hunger for blood. They didn’t understand that it wasn’t so much about the hunger as the actual need for the nutrients that the blood gave her. Without blood she would die. Her heart, the center of all her magic and power, would not support her anymore and she would slowly whither up. Not a pretty picture.

“I’m trying to tell you that we can’t do anything else today.” Stiles pushed himself away from the computer and let out a sigh. “We’re going to have to wait until tomorrow, alright?” It actually pained him to say those words, it seemed. He had a look on his face, soft and full of understanding, yet determined to deter her.

Lucy contemplated kicking his ass but decided against it. He was right, to a certain extent. “I’m going back to my house, then.” She said through gritted teeth, barely holding it together. As much as she wanted to just let go and have a meltdown to get it out of the way, being that vulnerable in front of a virtual stranger wasn’t at the top of her list. There was no point to it, either. Crying and screaming wasn’t going to solve anything. At this point she needed to get out of there before Stiles became her next meal. The longer she was in his room surrounded by that sweet scent of magic the more Lucy wanted to have a taste. 

Before she could jump out the window like she’d planned, Stiles got a hold of her arm. It wasn’t a bruising grip, but rather gentle, pretty much just like the look in his eyes with a little awkwardness. “Wait,” whatever it was, Stiles was embarrassed about it.

With raised eyebrows, Lucy patiently waited for him to continue, making a “go on” gesture with her other hand. Time was of the essence.

“You should change into something else.”

It dawned on her then, she was still wearing yesterday’s clothes. They were bloody and torn, not at all presentable. Lucy was so tired that she couldn’t even muster up the strength to feel bad about it. But he was right. Walking around looking like the walking dead would draw unwanted attention. She accepted the T shirt he offered her and even asked for one of his plaid shirts, too. A short sleeved shirt wouldn’t completely hide the scars on her arm and the last thing she wanted was to show them to the world. He seemed to understand, probably because he’d caught a glimpse of them through her torn clothes.

Surprisingly, she didn’t really mind him seeing them. At least he hadn’t commented or asked about them. They shared a nod of understanding and just like that, she jumped out of the window, landing gracefully without looking back. The smell of scotch and gun powder reached her nose, which made her pause. She knew that scent, it was a combination of smells that usually lingered around Mr. Stilinski. A small smile pulled at her lips at the thought of the kind officer who had opened his home to Laura and Derek after the fire. He hadn’t asked for anything in return, just given Laura a place to stay for a while so she could get back on her feet. Lucy didn’t recall much from that time, she’d been hospitalized in the Crispy Critters ward, but Laura had never forgotten his kindness. She often spoke of one day coming back to thank him and repay him however she could.

“Call me John,” he’d told her when he visited her once, the wrinkles around his eyes becoming prominent as he smiled with warmth that at the time had cut deep into Lucy. The warmth and love in his face had reminded her too much of her deceased father even though Gabriel hadn’t looked as old as John.

Regardless of how little her father had resembled John Stilinski, Lucy had seen her father in him. They both shared that parental expression and undying love for their children. Lucy felt silly for not having remembered Stiles before. But who could blame her, she’d been a little preoccupied trying to heal from the burns caused by the fire. Until now she hadn’t made the connection between teenage Stiles and that sweet young kid she’d met years ago. At that moment Lucy vowed to protect Stiles at all costs. She owed the sheriff that much for Laura’s sake.

_Lately, I'm making too many promises_ , she thought grimly. 


	6. Chapter 6

Stiles was so going to hell. He was sure that getting your father drunk to get info out of him was considered a sin. But Stiles just needed to know what was going on. Sometimes being the son of the sheriff had its perks. Besides, it was for a good cause, right? If they found out more info on stuff then lives could be saved. The police had the info, they just didn’t know about werewolves and… whatever Lucy was. They could only do so much.

After his father drank a few glasses of whiskey, he got drunk enough to start talking. Stiles wondered if he hadn’t overdone it this time. When his father couldn’t even pronounce Hell and said Hale… well, he got a little worried there. Not amused of course. That would be bad, really bad. Ok, so perhaps a little bit.

“Hell of a lot?” Stiles tentatively provided the right pronunciation trying really hard not to let out a laugh.

His father glanced briefly at him and nodded. “Yes. Hell of a lot easier to catch if we had an actual picture of him.”

That spiked Stiles interest. “How do you not have a picture of him?” Suspects were caught and then processed, which included a mug shot and fingerprints. So, yeah, they should have pictures since Derek had been arrested.

“It’s the weirdest thing,” Sheriff Stilinski gestured to the picture in his hand. “It’s like every time we took the mug shot… like two laser beams pointing at the camera.” he made a weird motion around his eyes and took another sip of whiskey. 

Stiles took the picture from his dad and looked at it. “Nice.” He had to give it to Derek, being a werewolf sure gave him the advantage. This way the only thing they had to recognize him were drawings and not an actual picture. Hmm. Even in a drawing he somehow managed to project the dangerous glint in his eyes and murderous intent. If looks could kill… At the same time, there was something different about him that Stiles couldn’t decipher nor ever understand.

The fire that killed his family not only destroyed his life, but the young man, too. And his sister. Stiles didn’t remember much from the time Derek and his sister stayed with him and his dad, his mom had just died and he’d been grieving just as much as the Hales. Everything in his life was wrong, it all crumbled around him like a house of cards, leaving chaos and pain in its wake. Very much like Derek’s life, actually, now that he thought about it. Boy, didn’t that make him feel kinda douche-y. The poor dude had been in the same situation and all Stiles could think about was his own problems. As if others didn’t have it worse, their entire lives uprooted from the ground without either parent alive. Damn.

Stiles hadn’t seen Derek as vulnerable as he had back then ever since. He still remembered, though and it made his insides churn to see the new Derek that had rolled into town all growly and sour patch-y with those expressive eyebrows of doom that he usually used to intimidate innocents. Of course Stiles counted himself in that category. In his opinion he wasn’t as annoying to Derek as he could be. Since he felt so bad, Stiles wished he could do something else to help him but without getting anyone else hurt.

“Augh, that ounce hit me like a brick.” The sheriff said, sounding every bit as drunk. It made Stiles feel horrible for what he did. “And I have said way too much…”

Stiles instantly tried to get back on his father's good graces. “Dad, it’s me. I’m not going to say anything.” _To the wrong people_ , he concluded. Lucy definitely needed to know things if they were to do something about their particular… situation. 

His dad gave him a devious look but the whiskey was really doing wonders to him and he just shrugged. This gave Stiles time to go through stuff. Then his dad went on, spilling the beans about what he knew. He silently thanked his lucky stars for that.

“You see, the thing is they’re all connected.” _Yeah, definitely_ , Stiles thought. “I mean, the bus driver that got killed was an insurance investigator assigned to the Hale house fire.” Stiles looked over to what his dad was going through and finished reading the report.

“Terminated under suspicion of fraud.” He read. A good reason to make it to Peter Hale’s hit list, just like Scott had said. Up until now they only knew that people had been killed, then Scott told them that those people had been involved and all this time his dad had the info but hadn’t known what to do with it. These papers revealed the how they’d been involved and the motive behind Peter Hale’s killing spree.

However… if he hadn’t known better, like when he wrongly accused Derek of killing Laura, all evidence seemed to point to a Hale looking for revenge. No wonder Derek was the primary suspect. Peter was supposed to be in a coma, which automatically ruled him out as far as courts knew, just like his friends had done before. They’d underestimated him and look where that got them. Well, good thing the police wasn’t pointing fingers just yet.

“Exactly.”

Stiles needed to know more and pass it along to Lucy. “Who else?”

“The video store clerk that got his throat slashed.” the pictures were laid out in front of them and Stiles flinched a little. There was so much blood… the guy’s insides were outwards. Gory. “He was a convicted felon with a history of arson.”

“What about the other two guys? The guys that got killed in the woods?” Those two didn’t make much sense. For a while Stiles thought it was a wrong place, wrong time kind of thing. Scott had been there with him so there was a possibility that the alpha took it out on them. Clearly, he was wrong.

“Priors all over the record, including…”

“Arson.” Of course. “They all had something to do with the fire.” Stiles murmured. This confirmed everything Scott said. Peter wasn’t killing innocent people, he was getting revenge on those who killed his whole family and maybe that’s why Derek was so willing to join him. Had that idiot known all of this too, and been looking for revenge, then they’d probably be after Derek, too. A part of Stiles didn't blame Peter for seeking revenge. Stiles wanted to say he'd be above murder but he couldn't say so without sounding like a hypocrite. He would do anything for his father. If someone hurt his father Stiles would probably want to hurt them, too. 

Leaving those dark thoughts behind, Stiles refocused on his dad when he noticed that the sheriff thought he was saying too much. Stiles convinced him to get another shot. This was the only way to get anything out of him and so far everything was going good. A little while later and his dad was really drunk. Like, crazy drunk. 

_God, I'm such a little shit._

“Stiles, there’s just so many questions.” He sounded tired and frustrated. That made two of them. 

“Like what?”

“Derek.” His dad explained. “Why kill everyone that was involved in the fire?” It seemed pretty obvious why but Stiles didn’t mention it. Mainly because it wasn’t Derek, but who would believe him if he said it was his uncle that had been in a coma for the past six years? No one, even if they proved that the dude wasn’t there anymore. Derek would probably just get blamed for that one too. “And why kill his sister? I mean, she had nothing to do with it. It’s so out of character. He loved his sister. When the fire first happened, they stayed here and… all they had left was each other. And why make it look like some kind of animal attack? When th—that cougar ended up in the parking lot I checked with animal control. The incidences of wild animal reports dropped seventy percent over the past seven months.”

Yeah, no kidding. Animals knew there was a greater danger out there. Their perception was way better than humans. Now, if only he had half of those animal’s self-preservation… Stiles leaned back and let his father talk. He was right, it was all crazy. Ever since the alpha first bit Scott and then Derek Hale came back, their lives were turned upside down. Suddenly getting to play Lacrosse or school work seemed too mundane when most of the time their lives were in danger. But he hadn’t really remembered much of the time Laura and Derek stayed with them. His mother’s death had still been recent and he’d been dealing with that. How long had it been for? A few days at most before they left with a friend. Lucy, most likely.

Now that he thought about it, that was definitely Lucy. He remembered hearing about that other person who made it out of the fire fighting for her life. She’d ended up in the hospital with bad burns similar to Peter’s.

“She’s so lucky she’s even alive.” Tara had said to another deputy. There was pity and sadness in her voice, both of which he didn’t think Lucy would ever appreciate.

“So you think she’ll make it?” Somebody else had asked, and for the life of him, Stiles couldn’t remember who that was. Maybe that shitty secretary with the three cats who always smelled like she’d just bathed herself in perfume. Semantics. She was never very optimistic.

Tara had sighed and shrugged. “I don’t know. I heard she was in pretty bad shape. But eight people died in that house… she’s a fighter.”

And Stiles couldn’t agree more. He’d seen the scars on her arm and part of her back when he brought her home. They marred her otherwise flawless skin. Even then, she hadn’t seemed too bothered by the fact that he’d seen them but had taken his clothes gladly. Clearly, she was still not okay with people seeing her scars. Then why him?

“You know, I miss talking to you.” Stiles heard his father talk, interrupting his inner monologue. He wanted to stay and chat, maybe ponder more about life and whatnot, but right now he had new info to tell the others. He got up and began to walk away, taking his phone out on the way out.

“I have to make a phone call.”

“I miss you… and I miss your mom.”

Stiles put the phone away and slowly turned around, stunned, his heart skipping a beat. “What’d you say?” His dad rarely spoke of Mom anymore. It was a very hurtful subject for the both of them. Ever since she died it was as if there was this… this hole inside of Stiles’ chest and seeing his dad hurt so much… That’s why Stiles never mentioned mom anymore. Instead, he’d learned to keep his mom’s memories alive through other means that wouldn’t be too conspicuous and remind his father of what they’d lost. Hmm, perhaps that’s why he hadn’t remembered Lucy until now. He compressed memories of those dark months in the back of his mind. Seeing Lucy in his home had dug up those memories. Not only her but Laura and Derek, too. For some reason he hadn’t told Scott this, but they stayed for such a short period of time that his friend probably didn’t even remember either.

When his dad reached for the bottle of liquor to get another drink, Stiles couldn’t let him do it anymore. He walked over to his father and gently took the bottle to keep him from drinking himself to sleep from the pain. Becoming an alcoholic wasn’t something his dad would want to do. At least when he was sober.

His dad didn’t try to stop him, he just sighed and said, “Thanks.”

Not knowing what else to do, Stiles let it go. He just stood there and helped his father up to his room. In his drunken state, his dad barely moved. Just groaned and made himself comfortable on the bed. Stiles watched him for a moment before proceeding to take his shoes off and drape a blanket over him to keep him warm at night. Tomorrow his dad would have the worst hangover but with luck he wouldn’t remember much.

* * *

“What does the boy have to do with anything?” Derek asked, barely able to contain his own anger.

Peter ran a hand along the backrest of the old couch longingly. Derek shared the same nostalgia. No matter how much he hated Peter or wanted to kill him, he was still all he had left. Without Laura, Derek didn’t know what to do. Most of the time he was going around feeling lost, wondering what Laura would do. He knew that he was handling the situation badly, just look at how messed up he is, but he was out on a limb here. He’d ever been trained to become Alpha. There was no manual for this. Derek should have learned his lesson the first time around that no one’s life was guaranteed and at least listened to his sister instead of running away from his last family member when the guilt became too much to bear.

In some ways, though, Derek understood that this was his punishment for killing his whole family. Now he was going to be all alone. Sooner or later he would have to kill Peter. His uncle was too unstable. Years trapped in his body as he recuperated damaged him just as much as the fire. Very little was left of the man he remembered him to be.

“Jackson, right?” Peter finally faced him. “He knows too much, Derek. The Argents probably have him on their radar already. He’s a liability.”

“But we can’t kill him!” Derek reasoned. For all the threatening he did with Scott and Stiles on a daily basis, he never really thought of actually going through with them. He might be a predator, but he wasn’t a killer. His mother had reminded him of that plenty of times. Werewolves weren't the rabid dogs hunters made the out to be. “He’s just a moron, Peter. An imbecile who will shut up if we scare him.”

“You either do it or,” Peter held up his claws as if to admire them and Derek noticed the dry blood on them. Blood that belonged to Lucy. “you know what happens. There is no being that is truly immortal, and so she can be killed.”

Derek growled low in his throat. “If you hurt her…”

Peter rolled his eyes and retracted his claws. “Please, Derek. You think I wanna do this? Lucy is my friend’s daughter, but she’s also in the way.” In the blink of an eye he was standing right in front of Derek, fangs out and red eyes glowing in the dark. Dark hatred was reflected in them. Two red pools that promised fire and destruction. Derek didn’t even flinch, he refused to show any weakness. He wondered if he'd be able to take him down once the time came. In this state, Peter seemed invincible. “Don’t you want to get revenge? All those sons of bitches that doomed our family deserve to die and I plan on getting rid of each and every one of them.”

Something about the way he said it and the pointed look he received sent a paralyzing chill up his spine. Could it be that Peter knew about him and... _her_? But Derek had been so careful to keep that a secret. A moment later Peter pulled back and was back to his normal self. Derek couldn't stop the slight shaking. “So we don’t need that boy running around with our secret. Get rid of him, or I do it and take the girl down, too.”

* * *

_Get rid of him, or I do it and take Lucy down, too._

Peter’s words haunted Derek as he guided Jackson back to his house. It was either that scumbag or Lucy. Selfishly, he’d chosen Lucy because he didn’t want to be alone anymore. Among all the shit going on since the fire, Lucy was always a constant in his life. She wasn’t Pack but she was a good friend, had always been even before the fire. When he called in trouble, she came. Last night she’d even risked her life for him and he couldn’t deny the level of intimacy their relationship reached once more after what happened between them before.

Derek knew that if he killed Jackson the Argents would have a valid reason to kill him and this time he wouldn't be able to argue his innocence. He would be a monster and no different from Peter.

While he didn’t like what he was about to do, he did have to agree with Peter on one thing: Jackson was a liability that needed to be taken care of. There were other methods but this one would be permanent. At the moment Derek couldn't pretend to be a righteous man. Not when there was a part of him that felt… relief that those who caused the fire paid for their actions. It wasn’t enough, though. That was the worst part. Derek still had no closure. He wanted more. He wished he'd been the one to cause them pain and rip them apart. Watching as the life drained from their eyes would have given him some sense of peace. They played a part in destroying his family, Derek wanted them to pay a thousand times more. Anyone who let something so barbaric and inhumane happen deserved to die. Dark thoughts kept swirling inside his mind invading every crevice and nook, slowly poisoning him. 

Right now, Derek hoped that Lucy would someday forgive him for what he was about to do. He didn’t know what he would do if Lucy also turned her back on him. This was for her, but she wouldn’t see it that way. Just like Derek didn’t want to be a killer and didn’t approve of killing humans for sport, so did Lucy. He wouldn’t be surprised if Lucy actually became disgusted with him.

 _Please forgive me_ , he silently prayed.

“What’s in here?” Jackson asked, uncertain.

“Everything you want.” Derek replied.

He watched as Jackson hesitantly opened the door and stepped inside, taking careful steps. Once he was inside, Derek rushed in and closed the door behind himself, turning to face a very nervous Jackson.  

“It’s alright,” Derek said trying to reassure him, though he didn’t know who needed it more, him or Jackson.

Still, Jackson’s cool façade wasn’t doing anything for him when Derek could hear his heart beating faster than normal and smell the fear emanating from him. The teenager ignored Derek and looked around, confused.

“This house,” Jackson began. “It’s the same house.”

Derek stepped closer, instantly alert. “What’d you say?”

“I’ve dreamt about this place. I remember th-the staircase,” He looked up at it, then to the side, wonder all over his face. “I remember these walls, I remember… everything”

“You’ve been here?”

“No,” Jackson quickly told him, as he turned to face him. “Never. I dreamt.”

_What? That doesn't make any sense._

Then realization seemed to dawn on Jackson when Derek just stared at him like a predator did to his prey. “There’s no one else here.” Much to his surprise, the boy teared up slightly.

Derek shook his head and took a step closer, still trying to come to terms with what he was about to do.

“Anyone else coming?”

Derek shook his head again and stepped closer, unclenching his fist to reveal claws. Jackson gulped at the sight of them and his heart rate went up a notch. Realization that werewolves weren’t to be messed with dawned on him a bit too late. He tried to back away but the stairs were on his way and Jackson just fell on his ass like the pathetic little human he was.

 _You’ve always been so… human, Derek. Never change._ Laura had told him once when she found out about the girl that Derek was so in love with. She’d thought it was cute. But that was then, when he was happy. Now Derek was as unhappy as he could get. The pain and remorse wouldn’t leave him. It was his stupidity that got his entire family killed, along with Lucy’s father. If Lucy found out… she’d probably kill him herself. As it is, Lucy lived with an unfounded guilt because she hadn’t saved her father. She thought that if she’d been stronger and faster the day of the fire she would have been able to save more people. Lucy wouldn’t have to go through that every day if not for him in the first place. Instead, she was even afraid of lighting up a candle in their home.

_I can do it, I can kill him._

“Please!” Jackson pleaded. “Please don’t, ok? I’ll shut up. I’ll never say another word about this. I-I’ll even leave Scott alone. Just… please.”

_We are predators, not killers._

When his mother hadn’t been there to remind them, Laura did and now he was about to break one of the most sacred codes that his family held dear for generations. For centuries, his family tried to live in peace with humans only to be killed by fucking hunters.

“Please!” Jackson repeated frantically when Derek didn’t stop advancing on him and tears began to spill down his cheeks. “I don’t—I don’t deserve it.” He said in a more subdued tone.

“I think you do.” Derek said ruthlessly. That was the way to go in this situation. Just don’t think about what you’re going to do.

“NO!” Jackson screamed.

Tired of all the begging, Derek snarled. “Look around you! Wouldn’t there be someone here, trying to save you? There’s no one here. There’s a reason no one cares that you drive an expensive car, or that you have perfect hair. And no one cares that you’re captain of the Lacrosse team!”

“Excuse me.” Derek looked up to the top of the stairs and saw Scott standing there looking angry. “Co-Captain.” And then he leaped into the air, landing with a thud in front of Jackson, shielding him with his body. Surprisingly, he’d been able to shift.

A part of Derek felt proud for the younger wolf, but the other part got pissed off. He was ruining everything. If Jackson didn’t die now then he would die later anyways and Lucy along with him. Derek let out a growl of frustration and shifted, too. “Move!”

“No.” Scott replied, not the least bit scared.

“Fine.” Derek snarled. “I’ll kill you, too.”

It was them or Lucy, and as much as he hated doing this, he needed to do it. Dammit! Just as he was about to snap, there was a whistling noise approaching fast. Derek barely had time to yell at Scott to cover his eyes before doing so himself as an arrow whisked past them and embedded itself on the charred wall. Just like the arrow that had nearly killed him when Chris Argent shot him, this one also exploded. To make matters worse, bullets followed.

Derek looked up and he saw Scott clutching at his stomach as the smell of blood reached his nostrils. Scott had been shot. “Scott, go!” Derek ordered but the teen seemed to be in too much pain. Black blood poured out of his mouth. The bullets were laced with wolfsbane.

Derek glanced once at the door and then rushed to Scott’s side, helping him up and pushing him in the right direction to the back so he could escape. “Run!” He yelled over the roaring in his ears and watched as the teenager stumbled out of the house. Then he turned around and went over to the door. To make sure that Scott made it out alive, he needed to distract the hunters before they figured out that there was more than one wolf inside.  

Derek braced himself for the onslaught and opened the door, launching himself outside where bullets and hunters were waiting for him.


	7. Chapter 7

Lucy was following Kate trying to find something she could use against the hunter when she noticed where they were heading. She wondered who Kate was looking for at school. Not her niece. It raised her suspicions. Shortly after, Derek arrived and left with that Jackson kid and Lucy knew her intentions. Derek, too, seemed to have gone off his rocket. The idiot was making promises he couldn’t keep to Jackson. Whatever game Derek was playing, it wouldn’t be a pretty one. And wherever Peter was, Lucy knew that one way or another there would be more blood spilled. To prevent Derek from getting hurt, Lucy followed Kate to the Hale house. There were more hunters with Kate, of course and when they opened fire to the house, Lucy was ready. She leapt from the shadows and took down one of the hunters with one single blow to the back of his head then retreated to avoid getting shot.

Inside the house, Derek was talking to Scott and Lucy could have killed that young wolf for his stupidity. She watched with contempt as the Jackson kid ran out the back door like a coward, crying like a little girl.

“What the hell is going on?” Lucy heard Kate yell over the sound of the bullets. “Is there another one?”

Lucy chose that moment to make herself visible and walked closer to where Kate would see her. “Looking for me?”

Color drained from Kate’s face. “You…?

Lucy smiled and shrugged. “Yeah, me.”

The bullets hadn’t stopped and a moment later Derek came out of the house, snarling and very pissed off. Three hunters went after him while Kate remained behind with Lucy, a nasty smile curving her lips. “I knew you couldn’t be human.” Kate said, advancing on Lucy without any fear.

“Really?” Lucy replied but her attention was on Derek who was, thankfully, holding his own end without much trouble then turned to Kate. “You must be psychic then.”

Kate shrugged. “Maybe. But you’re still not human… or werewolf. So, what are you?”

Lucy bared her fangs with a cruel smile. “Your reaper.” And then she attacked.

Surprisingly, Kate was able to dodge her attack, keeping her at arm's length. Lucy whirled around and came face to face with Kate holding a gun pointed at her chest. “Are you kidding me?” A bullet wouldn’t kill her. It would hurt and annoy the hell out of her, but not kill her.

Kate cocked her head to one side and nodded, throwing the gun to the side. “You’re right, I can do better than this.” Suddenly, a howl of pain pierced the air and Lucy jerked her head to the direction where it came from. It was Derek, he was being surrounded by the hunters, a cloud of wolfsbane enveloping his body. He couldn’t move with all the arrows stuck to his thighs. A third arrow suddenly pierced his abdomen and that’s when Lucy lost it.

Turning back to Kate, Lucy intended to kill her but the she was gone. “Looking for me?” Now she was holding a crossbow. Lucy didn’t think it made any difference. That wasn’t going to do much either.

Lucy snarled and ran to her at inhuman speed, but stopped short within a few feet when an arrow hit her square in the chest and she instantly knew why Kate had been so confident. It was a silver tipped arrow. Lucy dropped to her knees in pain. She tried to get the arrow out before the poison spread but it was useless, her strength was already fading and soon Lucy was writhing on the floor, incapable of doing anything to help Derek.

“Oh, so you are a vampire?” Kate said as she hovered above Lucy. “I wasn’t so sure but I’m glad you are.” She let out a laugh and kept on talking as if they were pals just having a nice chat at the park. “Otherwise, you could’ve killed me and for that....” With one hand, she pushed the arrow deeper into her chest. Lucy was only capable of a silent scream.

“Ready, Kate!”

“Bag and tag ‘em, boys!”

That was the last thing Lucy heard before blacking out from the pain.

* * *

Waking up to silver poisoning was not fun at all. It felt as if there was fire running through her veins, weakening her. She had a killer headache and the gaping wound in the middle of her chest was bleeding, leaving a dark trail down her chest. Instead of red like the rest of the human and werewolf population, her blood was darker and thicker, nearly black.

Another ruined shirt and new wound when she’d just recuperated from Peter’s claws. Except that this was worse. If exposed to enough silver, Lucy could die.

“Lucy, are you alright?” Derek’s voice came from somewhere to her right but Lucy didn’t even have enough strength to lift her head. “Dammit, answer me!”

“Fuck you.” Lucy murmured but she knew he’d heard her when he let out a sigh of relief.

“What in the hell were you doing at my house, you moron?” Now that she thought about it, Derek’s voice sounded deeper and harsher, which meant he’d probably shifted.

Lucy finally mustered the strength to loll her head backwards and lean against the bars holding her up, in pretty much the same fashion as Derek. In the dark, Lucy could still see perfectly fine, spotting Derek a couple of feet to her right. He was back to human form. Some device sat on a table near him, wires were taped to his sides with gauze. The smell of burned flesh reached her nostrils and Lucy realized what that was for and why Derek was shifting back and forth from human to werewolf. Now she was so going to kill Kate.

“Well?”

Ignoring Derek, she tried pulling her arms down to break the bonds but hissed when the silver only burned her more as her abraded skin was jostled. The stench of burnt flesh wasn’t entirely Derek’s. One glance at her wrists and Lucy growled, they were definitely burned. Angry burns marred her skin where the bonds touched her. The raised skin around the bonds seemed to curl outwards trying to stay away from the damaging silver. Dark tracks of blood ran down the length of her arms, a striking contrast to her otherwise pale skin.

Derek growled low in his throat and Lucy turned to look at him, annoyed. “What do you want from me, Derek? Haven’t I done enough? I’m here strung up like a piece of meat being as miserable as possible, leave me alone.”

“I was trying to save your life!”

“What?” Chains rattled and Derek grunted, though it was more like a whimper and she didn’t blame him. She hurt, too.

“Peter said he would kill you if I didn’t get rid of Jackson, so I was saving your life. You’re welcome, by the way.”

Lucy scoffed. “Peter won’t lay another hand on me ever again.” Next time she wouldn’t fall for the old nightshade trick. Instead, she’d break his neck and rip his head right off.

“Oh, but a hunter just did.” Derek replied sarcastically.

“I’m going to be fine.” Lucy snarled at him and resumed her task of trying to break the chains. They just made a lot of noise and burned deeper into her wrists rather than break. Of course, they were made of silver. But at least she tried.

“No, you won’t!” Derek yelled in desperation. “I know a lot of things about your kind, Lucy. You’re as allergic to silver as I am to wolfsbane. It’s slowly killing you.”

She was surprised that he’d even bothered to learn anything about Vampires. But she didn't put it past him. Derek had always been particularly curious since he was a child. As the years went by, he became a history buff and his favorite subject used to be other supernaturals. Still, he sounded almost scared for her and he was right. The silver was slowly poisoning her and it would kill her soon. Sooner than they might think judging by how far along the venom seemed to have spread throughout her body. She could feel it eating away at her. “I’m not acting tough, Derek and I admit it that it hurts. But this is your fault! Why in the hell would you go with Peter? And don’t give me that crap about him killing me.”

Derek sighed and turned to look at her. His blue eyes shone like two sapphires in the dark and Lucy had to admit that having him here made her feel a little better. Less lonely, even if he, too, was chained. His company just helped her focus on something other than the pain and exhaustion. “This is my fault.” He admitted with defeat in his voice then looked away. “I’m sorry, Lucy. I never should have called you for help. I only got you hurt and now possibly killed. I’m sorry.”

Lucy didn’t want his apologies, she just wanted the truth. “Don’t apologize! Tell me what Peter said.”

“Fine! The killings aren’t random. Peter killed them because they were somehow connected to the fire where my family and your father died.” His breathing was labored and he sounded a little hysterical as he explained everything, but there was still some bite in his words. “While I don’t usually endorse murder, I couldn’t help but feel a little satisfaction.”

“What about Laura?” Lucy murmured. To a certain extent, Derek was right. She also didn’t usually approve of revenge but this one hit too close to home. Call her a hypocrite but it did feel good to know that those responsible for her father’s death had paid. Not to mention the trauma that she still had to work through sometimes. After being trapped in the house she never saw fire the same way again. “Peter did kill her for no reason other than his thirst for revenge and power.”

Derek was silent for a moment. “It was an accident.” He deadpanned when he finally shifted back to human.

Lucy shook her head and clenched her hands into fists. “Not true, Derek. I don’t believe a word that comes out of his mouth. That bastard killed Laura on purpose.” Could he still be reasoned with or was he too far gone?

“No. It was an accident. Things like that happen.” But even as he said it, doubt had crept into his voice and that was all she needed. A little doubt, she could work with that.

“That’s bullshit, we both know it.”

Suddenly the metal door opened and Kate Argent came in with a smirk on her face. The pleasure of seeing both of them chained and, in her case, dying, written all over her face. “Well, well, well. Look what I dragged in.” Derek snarled but she ignored it, her attention solely focused on Lucy. “And you, I’m glad you’re awake.”

Kate walked over to the wall and turned on a big lamp, pointing it at her and Derek. Still smiling, she casually strode over to a wooden table where the device that Lucy had noticed earlier was placed on. She rummaged through Derek’s stuff and took out his wallet.

“Now, let’s get down to business, shall we?” She took out money and Derek’s ID. “So, Derek, where’s the alpha?”

“Go to hell, bitch.” Derek told her.

Kate just laughed and shook her head disapprovingly. “C’mon, Derek! He killed your sister, so why are you protecting him? Or do you want to have the pleasure of sinking your teeth and claws into him?” with Derek’s ID in her hand, she walked up to him and grabbed his chin, bringing the ID up to his face. “Look at that sour face.” She chuckled. “I bet you always have people coming up to you saying, ‘smile Derek. Why don’t you smile more?’”

Lucy didn’t like the way she was taunting him. “Let go of him!” That got her attention and Kate turned to her with her own sour look.

“You know, I never liked vampires.” Lucy stared down at Kate, hoping that the bitch would meet her gaze so she could try to work her magic on her, but she seemed to know better. “You’re always so… annoying. However, I do wonder what you’re doing with a werewolf. Are you his little whore?” Lucy snarled at her for even suggesting it and the bitch laughed. “But I gotta give it to ya, it is quite easy to kill you people.” From her jacket pocket she took out a syringe filled with an almost clear liquid but with a lavender tint to it. As Kate approached, Lucy got a whiff of it and it burned her nostrils. Knowing that it was nightshade Lucy instinctively recoiled from it.

“You touch her Kate and I will kill you.” Derek’s threat fell on deaf ears. Kate still advanced on her and plunged the syringe into Lucy’s chest, injecting her with half of it before taking it out.

Lucy screamed in pain, both from being stabbed and the nightshade entering her bloodstream. In small doses it wouldn’t have hurt but to have it injected directly… it was almost as bad as silver. She almost blacked out. Derek’s protests sounded far away to Lucy as she struggled to stay conscious.

“Stop torturing her!” Derek was yelling. “She has nothing to do with this.”

“Oh, but she does, Derek.” Lucy barely noticed as Kate grabbed her by the chin and turned her head to face Derek. “You see those ugly marks on her face? The veins? That means that she doesn’t have much time anymore. The silver has spread throughout her body and the nightshade was just the icing on the cake. If she doesn’t get detoxed in the… uh, let’s say twenty-four hours, she’ll die.” She let go of Lucy and her head hung there limply. “So how about you tell me about the alpha before she runs put of time?"

Derek’s rapid breathing reached Lucy’s ears and she wanted to reassure him but she could barely keep herself breathing. “I don’t know where he is. It’s not like he has a permanent address.”

Kate nodded as if she understood and went through his phone’s contacts and messages. “You have nothing here. God, I hate playing detective. It’s not fun.”

“Let her go, Kate, and I won’t kill you when I get out of here.”

“Uh, interesting proposition but not buying it.”

“Let her go!”

Kate laughed and approached him. “Remember all the fun we had together?”

“The time you burned my family alive?” Derek snapped.

“No, I was thinking more about the…” she placed her hands on his hips suggestively. “hot, crazy sex we had. But the fire? That was fun too.” She laughed when Derek attempted to lunge at her, which only brought their faces closer. “I love how much you hate me. Remember how this felt?” Kate ran her tongue up his torso like it was candy with a look of sociopathic bliss on her face.

Enraged, Derek snarled and struggled to get free, which only amused her even more. “Oh, c’mon, Derek! Don’t be like that.” She stepped back and just stood there, staring at him with a weird look on her face. For a few moments she said nothing, and Derek was beginning to worry about any other idiotic ideas she could come up with. “You know, our time together was fun for me. Although, I didbleave with an interesting surprise of yours.”

The way she said it, it made Derek shiver and he turned his head to the side so he wouldn’t have to look at her. He wished he could tune her out, cover his ears, anything. The last thing he wanted was to hear any more inappropriate comments about what they did. Her touch disgusted him. It made him feel dirty and ashamed. But mostly, he was reminded of what an idiotic little boy he’d been to have fallen for her cruel game and his chest ached with the beginnings of what he assumed had to be a panic attack. Just thinking about how he was completely at her mercy made his stomach churn and his blood boil with rage.

“Shut up!”

Kate laughed at him when he recoiled from her touch and he hated himself for it. “Hmm, sweetheart, I really don’t want to hurt you.” She turned around and another man came in, popping his knuckles. “But he does.”

* * *

Derek endured the torture and hoped that one of the morons figured out his plan to be tracked down with Scott’s phone. Nowadays phones had GPS if he wasn’t mistaken so the faster those two figured it out, the faster he could get Lucy some help. While his knowledge about vampires was better than others, it didn’t include how to save a poisoned vampire from dying. But he would worry about that later.

“Unfortunately, Derek, if you’re not gonna talk then I’m just gonna have to kill you.” Oh, and she sounded so remorseful about it. He was tired of her games and wanted nothing more than to rip her apart. She was slowly killing Lucy, who hadn’t woken up since the night before and her veins were visible almost everywhere now. She had only a few hours left before her time was up. “So, say hi to your sister for me.” When she reached for the control of the machine that had been constantly electrocuting him, Derek just braced himself for the discharge but nothing happened. “You didn’t tell her about me, did you? The truth about the fire?”

It was like another charge of electricity went through him at the mention of what he’d done before and he raised his head to glare at Kate. God, if he could, he would kill her now. All the hatred burning inside of him, plus the remorse and sorrow that had plagued him for the past six years were just bubbling up inside of him.

Kate bit into his silence and straightened up with a smirk on her face. “Or did you?” she gasped in mock surprise. “Did you tell anybody?” she glanced at Lucy briefly. “Not even her?”

Ashamed, Derek looked down, refusing to look at her in the eyes. He was grateful that Lucy was unconscious. This way she wouldn’t hate him, too.

“Oh, sweetie, that’s just a lot of guilt to keep buried. But don’t worry, Lucy can’t judge you. It’s not like she’s innocent either.”

Derek jerked his head to one side when he heard Lucy groan. “What the fuck are you talking about, Argent?” Oh, no. Derek’s heart sank at the sound of Lucy’s voice.

“Derek, what…” A coughing fit interrupted her question and blood dripped down her chin. Lucy raised her eyes and met his in a silent question. “What is she talking about?” her voice came out weak and raspy, but her gaze remained steady.

Kate let out a laugh and clapped, enjoying the show.

“I’ll be damned, Derek. What a liar you are. Lucy here didn’t know that it was your fault your entire family died.”

“It wasn’t his fault!” Lucy snarled at her, fangs out. “Derek couldn’t have done anything to save them.” In that case it had been her fault for not being strong enough to save anyone but Peter and herself. If she hadn’t been so scared and lost, then maybe she could have done more for the Hales and her father. But from what little she remembered, everything had happened so fast...

Kate shook her head. “Oh, but it was.” She said tauntingly, then turned to Derek with a predatory smile. “It’s not all your fault, though. You got tricked by a pretty face. It happens. Handsome young werewolf mistakenly falls in love with a super-hot girl who comes from a family that kills werewolves. Is that ironic?” That directed at Lucy, who just stared at Derek in shock, trying to catch his eye and see the truth. Derek’s heart was beating faster than normal and sweat had pooled on his forehead. But the dead giveaway was the fact that he wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Is it ironic that you are inadvertently helping me track the rest of the pack again? Or just a little bit of history repeating itself?”

Lucy couldn’t believe what Kate was saying. It had to be a lie. Derek would have never done anything to endanger his family. But it made sense. Back then Derek had had a secret lover, a girl that he never spoke of to his family but that seemed to make him happy. Lucy and Laura had teased him about it many times, yet he still never even gave them a name. And even if it was true and that girl was Kate, had he known that she was an Argent? A hunter?

“Did you know who she was?” Lucy demanded, lunging forward only to hang there as the silver burned even more into her wrists. She winced in pain but she also needed to know the truth. Had he known that she was a hunter? “Derek!”

Kate threw her head back and laughed, “He didn't know what he didn't want to see. Because he was…” her hands trailed up and down his torso. “So in love. So stupid.” Derek shifted and growled, struggling to get free but nothing happened. It only served to amuse Kate and enrage Lucy.

How could he have been so stupid? How in the hell did he allow himself to trust an Argent? A freaking hunter? The Hales would still be alive, and so would her father.

Derek suddenly turned to look at Lucy with such regret and pain in his eyes, asking for understanding and forgiveness, but Lucy couldn’t even move anymore. The poison in her veins had reached an all consuming level. All this time she’d ignored the churning of her stomach and spasms raking her body, making her want to curl in on herself, but she couldn’t do that anymore.

Now it was too much. Letting out a cry of pain, she looked away and tried to hold the bile rising up in her throat. In the distance, Derek was growling and threatening Kate again, who was pointedly ignoring him as she murmured something about history repeating itself and finally murmured something about Scott.

“It’s Scott, isn’t it? He’s the one in love with Allison.” Kate realized.

“Kate,” Derek was forcing the words out, desperation was making him lose control and he needed a clear head right now. Before Lucy died. “Please! Just let her go!”

“She’s already dead. Nothing can save her now.”

And just like that, Derek knew he was definitely going to kill Kate Argent. Not just for killing his entire family, but also for Lucy if she died. Nothing would matter after that, he’d already have what he craved for. Let the hunters come after him. They'd pay, too. Those murderous bigots would finally get what they deserved. 


	8. Chapter 8

Stiles stared down at Lydia’s still form, taking solace in the fact that she was at least still breathing, but there was so much blood. Just so much. It was a miracle that she was even alive. But would that even matter? Lydia was one of them now, a wolf. Who knew what the girl would do once she found out. Even worse, what the Argents would do. This change just put her in the line of fire and Stiles couldn’t protect her. His only hope was either Scott or Derek, but the latter was probably dead by now. And Lucy… who knew where she’d gone off to.

“No, I’m not just letting you leave her here.” He told Peter, hoping that the alpha would listen. The least he could do now was at least make sure she made it through.

Peter paused cleaning up the blood from his fingers and glared down at Stiles. “You don’t have a choice Stiles, you’re coming with me.” Just like that, no room for discussion or anything. The alpha just expected him to leave his friend bleeding on the field.

“Just kill me now. Look, I don’t care anymore.” Next thing he knew, the alpha was holding him up, his claws digging below his chin painfully without breaking the skin. Their faces were inches from each other and Stiles could have sworn he could smell the blood in his breath. Lydia’s blood.

Stiles was very afraid, but he’d lying when he said that he didn’t care if he lived or died. He cared immensely for what it would to his dad if he died. The death of Claudia, his mom, took a lot out of the Sheriff. Losing Stiles would be even worse for the Sheriff. Stiles was all he had left. He closed his eyes and waited for the imminent blow, which never came. The claws let go of him and then it was just him and Peter, looking impatient. “Call your friend.” Peter told him. “Tell Jackson where she is and tell him to get her.” Relieved, Stiles did as told.

Well, at least no one was dying. Yet. After calling Jackson, Stiles followed Peter, knowing that at least Lydia would be alright. She had to be. Stiles did everything he was told. When Peter told him to get in the car and drive, he did it. Inside, he was dying a little bit, hating himself for what happened to Lydia.

“Don’t feel bad.” Peter broke the silence and Stiles contemplated punching him in the face, but that would be stupid. “She’ll live and become a werewolf.” That almost made him snort. As if that was the best thing in the world. “She’ll be incredibly powerful.”

“Yeah, and once a month she’ll be out of her freaking mind and try to tear me apart.”

“Well, actually considering that she’s a woman… twice a month.” In other circumstances that would have made Stiles laugh, it was pretty funny, but now wasn’t the time and he wasn’t in the mood. That bastard was making jokes when Lydia was half torn up. The only thing he could do was stare at him in disbelief. 

* * *

If Allison hadn’t seen Scott transform into a… a… wolf—oh, god, a freaking wolf! It was impossible to imagine sweet, handsome Scott as a wolf—a monster—who killed people just for fun. But she’d seen it and wasn’t like she could deny it anymore that she could deny having seen Derek Hale in the basement with fangs and all furry. Just like a wolf. The only difference was the eyes. Scott’s glowed yellow while Derek’s were blue. And Lucy… she’d been there, too, hanging from silver cuffs next to Derek. Kate had said she was a freaking vampire.

“I’m not sure how long you’ll be.” Allison blinked and looked at her mother, shock written all over her face. So far she hadn’t had a breakdown, but it wouldn’t be long now. “You want anything specific?” Her mom continued to rummage through her closet and picked out a red shirt, which she placed on top of her dresser before looking back at Allison when there was no answer to her question. “Sweetheart?”

“I just saw my boyfriend turn into a werewolf, and a girl I thought could be my friend turned out to be a vampire.” Allison stated quietly. Numbly. Was her mom really expecting her to worry about what to wear to a place that she didn’t even want to go? Clothes were the least of worries in her long list. 

Her mom chuckled. “Fine, I’ll grab some things myself.” And she went back to picking out clothes as if this was normal.

Unbelievable. How could she be so nonchalant about things when Allison was afraid and panicked? When Allison’s phone rang, she made a dash for it but her mom beat her to it. After looking at it for a moment, Victoria just declined the call and placed the phone on the corner of the dresser closest to her in a silent command not to touch it.

Disappointed, Allison just sat back. “Was it… Scott?” She asked in a small voice. Part of her wanted him to call her to tell her that it was just some sort of sick joke, that he was the normal teenage boy she fell for.

“No, somebody named Jackson.”

Oh. Next, she asked the question that had been nagging at her for most of the time since she found out about Scott being a werewolf. Allison hoped that he wouldn’t end up getting tortured like Derek. She wouldn’t be able to stand that. “What are you going to do to him?”

Victoria didn’t even turn around, she just kept methodically folding Allison’s clothes like this was just a vacation or something. “That depends. We have a sort of moral code we follow, especially one that young.”

“Scott didn’t kill anybody, he couldn’t—"

“It’s all part of a longer conversation.”

That didn’t reassure Allison at all. Scott could still end up in her basement screaming while someone tortured him when in reality he was innocent. He had to be. “I wanna know now, right now!”

Her mom suddenly turned around, making Allison jump a little. Victoria Argent was strict and severe on a daily basis, a woman who rarely showed much affection but Allison had never felt unloved or scared in her mother's presence. The look on her face at the moment, fiercely angered and threatening gave Allison pause. “What you want right now doesn’t matter! What you need is to stay quiet. ” Allison lowered her gaze to avoid her mother's blazing eyes, holding back angry tears and just listened as her mother kept lecturing her. She wondered what was happening. How could everything have gone so wrong? “You’re catching a glimpse of something you are not quite ready to see and there are others outside of this family who are not ready for you to see it.”

_Oh, as if that explained everything!_  Allison wanted to yell and kick. It didn’t even make sense. Why did it have to matter what others wanted or thought? It was Scott’s life on the line right here! Seeing Derek and… that girl, Lucy, strung up there had traumatized Allison. According to Kate she was a vampire, just another monster that they had to worry about. But she’d also seemed normal. All of them did. So what if her family and the rest of the hunters were wrong about them? The only one that seemed to deserve to be punished was that alpha that killed people. Not Scott, Derek or that girl. She hadn’t seemed like a threat. But Kate had said that her kind was even more dangerous than werewolves. They didn't answer to the moon the same way a werewolf did, it was easier for them to blend in with society and even harder to track down. You didn’t see them coming until it was too late. All a hunter had to go on when tracking a vampire was a trail of bodies drained of blood. At first she hadn’t believed it, but then Kate had shown her the fangs and the burns from the silver, leaving no room to argue.

“Staying quiet is the best protection,” Victoria explained, her voice less harsh. “You understand?” Allison didn’t agree with it but she nodded to appease her mother. “Say it!” her mother suddenly commanded and Allison took a step back.

“I understand.” She quickly replied.

Her mom's smile was more familiar now. “That’s my girl. Now grab a few warm coats, it’ll probably be cold up there.”

Allison mindlessly picked out clothes from the closet as she let her mind wonder. For years she did everything her parents asked of her without question. Time to move because her dad had another job? No problem. It was difficult for her but she dealt with it. She managed. Over time she got used to all the moving around and came to terms with a lonely and friendless high school existence. She would always being the new girl who never stayed long. 

Realizing that every time they moved was to hunt someone-something-shattered her whole world. Her life was all a lie. The foundation of everything she believed in crashed down like a house of cards. A whole new world lay in front of her. It was scary and ugly. Allison wanted no part of it. She couldn’t get the image of Scott as a wolf out of her head. Or Lucy's decimated body. As she was changing, Allison thought she saw a pair of bright blue eyes watching her from the window and she let out a gasp, only to turn around and see that it was nothing.Walking down the stairs Allison could almost see herself with Scott by the door kissing, a memory from the other night after that disastrous dinner with her family.

It was horrible, to have to carry all that.

* * *

Stiles parked and followed, or was rather dragged by the alpha to another car. “Who’s car is this?”

“It belonged to my nurse.” Peter replied shamelessly.

“What happened to your nurse?” A moment later he regretted even asking when he saw the body of said psychotic nurse stashed in the trunk. Stiles recoiled from it when the smell of her rotting corpse reached his nostrils and was quite grateful for not having heightened smell like the wolf. Otherwise he would have lost his food. “Oh my god!”

Peter wasn’t even fazed, he just reached in and took out a messenger bag. In the process his arm brushed against the nurse’s body, eliciting no reaction from him. He passed the bag to Stiles who caught it but couldn’t stop staring at the corpse in shock, the whole time thinking that he was touching something that had been in contact with a dead body.

“I got better,” Was the alpha’s explanation for killing his nurse as he closed the trunk. 

 “Good luck getting any signal down here.” Stiles explained. Peter ignored him and placed the computer on top of the trunk. “And you’re a mac guy, does that go for all werewolves or just a personal preference?” 

“Turn it on, get connected.” And since the alpha’s wish was his command, at least for now, he booted up the computer. “You know, I’m really hating the whole werewolf mystique here. Look, you still need Scott’s username and password. And I’m sorry but I don’t know them.” 

“You know both of them.” 

Stiles shook his head. “No I don’t.” 

Peter still didn’t believe him. In fact, he was beginning to lose his patience and Stiles didn’t think that was a good thing. “Even if I couldn’t hear your heartbeat, I would still be able to tell that you’re lying.” 

Stiles unconsciously placed a hand over his heart almost protectively. Damn werewolf hearing. “Dude, I swear to god—” A second later Peter slammed him face down on the car. Stiles vision swam, dark patches appearing in his field of vision as and a pounding headache began to blossom at his temples.  

“I can be very persuasive, Stiles. Don’t make me persuade you.” The wolf threatened, his breathing awfully close to Stiles' ear. A cold shiver ran up his spine, afraid he might not make it this time.  

Stiles stopped playing games then. 

“Do you know why wolves always hunt in packs?” Stiles thought that was a rhetoric question so he just listened for once. “It’s just in case their prey are too large to bring down by one wolf alone. I need Derek and Scott. I need both of them.” 

Knowing his friend, Stiles decided to save Peter his time and explained that Scott wouldn’t help him. 

“Oh he will.” And he seemed so sure of himself. Why? What could he possibly hold against Scott? “Because… it’ll save Allison.” 

That was a low blow. The bastard knew how much Scott cared about Allison and would use it against him. Derek was right. She made him weak. “And you will because it will save Scott, your best friend. You know him so well, you even have his username and password.” 

Tired, Stiles just did it, he typed in the username and password. It wasn’t that hard, really. Even Peter would have been able to guess it eventually. 

“His username is Allison?” Peter asked in disbelief, “His password is also Allison?” 

“You still want him in your pack?” The wolf just rolled his eyes. 

* * *

Allison had been so sure that Scott and Derek were, or could be, normal. Specially, Scott, who’d always been so kind and understanding, always ready to listen. But after seeing Lydia at the hospital, bitten and probably changing, Allison wasn’t so sure anymore. Could it be that her family was right and that they really were monsters? Allison didn't know what to believe. There was a war raging inside her and she didn't know who to root for, who to trust. 

“You get that now? It’s what they do.” Kate told her, the cold truth, it seemed. “And they can’t help it.” 

Allison stared straight ahead, unable to look at her aunt and let her see how much she was hurting. “All of them?” Her voice came out sounding weak and unsure, and she hated it with a passion. Hated sounding so weak, always being shushed and protected. She hated this whole werewolf deal that just came knocking on her door and turned her life upside down. 

Kate sighed, reading between the lines and understanding her real question. “Yes, Allison, even Scott.” And that did it for her. Allison just snapped and was able to see what her aunt was telling her, that they were dangerous creatures. 

* * *

After hearing Scott’s howl, Derek couldn’t have been more relieved. Finally the moron was doing something smart. He instantly replied with his own cry for help and just waited… and waited. Beside him, Lucy was pretty much out of it. From time to time she would wake up and moan in pain, drawing the hunter’s attention to herself and getting beaten. Her healing abilities had stopped working a long time ago. 

The hunter seemed to realize how much this hurt Derek, even more than the hits he received, and would laugh on his face before beating him, too. More often than not, the hunter would turn up the dial on the machine and electrocute him. That also worked. 

Thankfully, the man had left for a while and Derek was able to at least work one of his hands free. But he didn’t do much after that, only waited for Scott to get there because in his weakened state Derek wouldn’t be able to do much anyways. Scott was his only chance. Finally, he heard Scott approaching the basement and he let out a sigh of relief. Soon Lucy would get help. Soon. Then the hunter came back and turned on the lights. 

Derek barely blinked knowing that Scott was close. _Hold on, Lucy._

“Ready to have some more fun?” Derek remained silent, “To be honest, my knuckles are kind of hurting. So I brought some help.” He produced a bat from behind his back and gripped it tight, ready to take a swing at him. “But let me warn ya, I used to play in college.” 

Derek reached out and grabbed the bat from the man’s hands, delighting in the look of shock on his face. “Brought a little help, too.” He replied, dragging his gaze from the scared hunter to Scott at the entrance. 

Using the man’s grip on the bat, Derek pushed him away, sending him flying towards Scott, where he remained unconscious. Seeing that there wouldn’t be any confrontations, Derek quickly took the wires taped to his side and ripped them away. “Scott, help me with this. No, you know what, help her.” He gestured with his chin to where Lucy was. 

“No.” 

Derek stared at Scott in disbelief. What in the hell was wrong with him now? “What?” He asked through gritted teeth.

“Not until you tell me how to stop Peter.” Scott declared with a new found conviction that didn't sit well with Derek in these circumstances. 

“You really want to talk about this right now?” Was he stupid or what? “Can’t you see Lucy’s dying? We weren’t exactly having a tea party in here, Scott. She needs help.” 

Scott didn’t even glance at Lucy, so focused on getting his way. This petulance was so typical of him. Derek had a sense of deja vu. “He’s going after Allison and her family. He’s going to kill them.” 

As if Derek cared. If he had his way, they would all die anyways and he would enjoy it for what Kate did to his family and Lucy. “So what? You think I care?”

“So tell me how to stop him.” 

“You can’t!” He was trying to be patient with the younger wolf, he really was, but he was making a huge mistake in caring for that Allison girl. Scott was making the same mistake he made years ago and sooner or later it would get him killed. “I don’t know when Kate is coming back.” Frustrated, Derek yanked on the chains holding his other arm. “So get us out of here!” Scott still didn’t do anything but stare, so he grew even more exasperated when he briefly glanced at Lucy, noticing that her heartbeat was getting dangerously slower. “Get me out now! Right now!” 

The determination in Scott’s eyes never wavered. “Promise you’ll help me.” 

Derek leaned forward and hissed, “You want me to risk my life for your girlfriend, uh?” Just saying those words sickened him. Kate was right, it was history repeating itself. “For your stupid little teenage crush that means absolutely nothing? You’re not in love, Scott. You’re sixteen years old, you’re a child!” It was the idea of love that was driving Scott's hormone riddled mind to think he wanted to risk everything for her. He was young, so naive and defenseless. Despite what he might believe, there was no way Scott could know what love is. Werewolf or not, he would get hurt for being so stupid. Derek was sure. But Scott wouldn't listen.

Scott looked down, and nodded. “Maybe you’re right.” Of course he was right. “But I know something you don’t. Peter said he didn’t know what he was doing when he killed your sister, right?” He unfolded some paper, it was the picture of a deer with the same spiral that surrounded his sister’s grave. “This is what brought your sister back to Beacon Hills, right?” 

“Where did you get that?” 

“My boss told me a few months ago that someone came into the clinic asking for a copy of this picture. Do you wanna know who it was?” Derek, not knowing what to say, just remained silent and waited for Scott to go on. “Peter’s nurse brought your sister here so that Peter could kill her and become the alpha. That’s why you’re going to help me.” 

Once again someone had used him, manipulated him. That didn’t sit well with Derek at all. Peter lied to him. He purposely lured his sister back home to kill her. The bastard did deserve to die. All the anger and pent up frustration that had built up in the last two days as he watched Lucy getting tortured and dying suddenly sprang up free, giving him the strength to finally break free from the chains holding him. This time he held no sympathy for his uncle. Family didn't betray family. If Peter was capable of turning his back on them for power then Derek would do the same. 

“I’ll help you,” He told Scott. “but first, you’re going to help her.” Without waiting for his response, Derek walked over to Lucy and clenched his jaw as he saw the state she was in. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought she was dead already. But her heartbeat was still strong enough that Derek knew she could still make it. 

Taking Lucy down from the wall was easier, all Derek had to do was snap the chains, but in his weakened state it became harder. So he let Scott do it. Once Lucy was free, Derek gently laid her down on the floor, cradling her head on his lap and brushing stray hair away from her face. “Lucy, please wake up.” Nothing. 

“What happened to her?” Scott asked from his crouched position close to Lucy. “She’s dying.” 

Derek growled low in his throat at Scott. “No! She’s not going to die. I need you to help me get her somewhere safe.” 

Scott’s eyes widened. “What? Derek, we have a pissed off alpha going around. There’s no time to—” 

“There is time!” Derek took a deep breath and shifted, then used his fangs to make a slash down the length of his arm. Blood trickled down and he opened Lucy’s mouth with his good arm to let the blood flow. “C’mon, Lucette, wake up.” 

“What are you doing bleeding into her mouth?” Scott leaned forward trying to swat his arm away but Derek snarled. 

“She’s a vampire, she needs blood.” Ignoring the shock on Scott’s face, Derek concentrated on Lucy. She was deadly pale and still unresponsive. Whatever blood dripped into her mouth wasn’t being swallowed, and Derek began to panic when his wound closed up and all he’d managed to do was smear half of her face with blood. “Why isn’t it working? Dammit, Lucy, just drink.” He was so going to pay for this later, but it would be worth it. Wincing in sympathy, Derek raised his fist up in the air and slammed it down on the wound in the middle of her chest with as much strength as he dared. A moment later Lucy’s eyes snapped open and she let out a loud scream. “That’s it.” Biting into his arm once again, Derek let the blood drip down into her mouth. 

Thankfully, this time Lucy was conscious and so she instantly transformed, too, latching onto his arm. Derek grimaced as her fangs tore at his arm in a desperate attempt to get more blood. There was no recognition in her eyes, just pure bloodlust and as selfish as he sounded, he was glad for it. This way, Lucy wouldn’t recoil from him. 

“Derek,” Scott began tentatively. “I don’t think that sh—she should drink so… much.” The boy still sounded awed and Derek couldn’t blame him. He also had to agree with him. The blood loss was taking a toll on him now. 

Carefully, Derek tried to pull away from her but her grip was tight. “Lucy, you have to let go now.” When that didn’t work, he grasped her jaw and forcefully pulled away. It only seemed to piss her off when he began bleeding all over instead of into her mouth and. “That’s enough.” 

“What are we going to do with her?” Derek ignored Scott’s question and focused on not getting them killed in case Lucy decided that Scott also smelled yummy. “Derek, we can’t take her with us.” 

He knew it, but where would she be safe? 

When Lucy suddenly launched herself at him, her jaws snapping open and closed in a haste to get back to drinking his blood, Derek was forced to pin her down, which caused her to go rigid as an expression of pain came over her. Lucy’s scream pierced the air once again and Derek didn’t know what to do. He hadn’t been that rough with her, so what was going on? Lucy was trying to claw at her chest in obvious pain but Derek couldn’t let her bleed to death. It was probably the silver. The damn silver. 

“C’mon, Derek, we don’t have much time!” 

As if mindful of their situation, Lucy went limp in his arms and fell back into unconsciousness. A trail of dark blood bubbled up from mouth and slid down one side of her mouth. Derek wiped it off with panic and kissed her forehead. “She’s going to be fine, she will be.” The words of reassurance were more to himself than to Lucy, yeah, but he couldn’t help it. Turning to Scott, he said, “Pick her up, she’s coming with us.” 

Before Scott could protest, Derek was up and putting his shirt and jacket back on. His wallet was useless now, devoid of cash and his ID was just lying there on the table. Bitch, figured she’d take is money. When he turned around, Scott had Lucy in his arms and they were ready to leave. 

It turned out to be harder for Derek than he thought. The exit to the place where he’d been kept was just about a quarter of a mile from his house and in under different circumstances it wouldn’t have taken him long to cover that distance, but his body protested loudly with each step he took. Taking the shorter way was our of the question. The entrance to the tunnels from his house had collapsed a long time ago. Derek struggled to keep up with Scott, who was frustrated already for having to carry Lucy and on top of that he had to lean on him from time to time. As they neared the house, Derek told Scott to stop. Something didn’t feel right. In his experience things weren’t as easy as just getting out of the basement and making it back to his house. 

“What do you mean?” Scott asked as he carefully placed Lucy on the floor at the foot of the hill to keep her safe. 

Derek looked around, trying to spot whatever it was that threw him off. Nothing. The forest was too quiet. “I don’t know, it’s… kind of like it was—” 

Scott held up his hand to shut him up. “Oh, no, don’t say it was too easy! People say too easy and bad things happen.” Derek rolled his eyes at his logic. No one needed to say anything for something bad to happen. Something was definitely going to happen soon. “What, you think finding you was easy? Getting away from Allison’s dad was easy… none of this has been easy!” 

In an attempt to shut him up, Derek decided to just humor him, glancing down at Lucy’s still body to make sure she was alright and checking her heartbeat. “Ok, fine, you’re right.” Then out of nowhere an arrow pierced his shoulder, sending him down to the floor in pain. He was barely attempting to get back up and run when another one landed in his leg. “Scott, your eyes!” Not sooner did he warn Scott that a bright light exploded nearby, temporarily blinding him.


	9. Chapter 9

Derek had Kate and Allison placed not far from there, to his right, which meant that they had a clear shot at both of them. But they wouldn’t get him again, this time they would kill him. Before any more shots could be fired, he crawled over to where Lucy was to shield her with his body. Derek took out the arrow from his shoulder, broke the one in his leg in half to facilitate movement and quickly moved Lucy behind a tree so she wouldn’t get hurt. He glanced over at Scott to make sure he was alright and noticed the boy had followed his lead and hidden, too. 

The Argent girls were approaching and Derek had to think fast. How could he protect Lucy? Without thinking Derek picked her up and limped his way over to the house but his leg gave out and he stumbled down to the floor with Lucy. Fear for Lucy and Scott’s life overwhelmed him and he told Scott to go, but he didn’t get very far.

Scott fell not far from him. “Allison, I can explain!”

The Allison girl didn’t even blink. “Stop lying. For once, stop lying.” The biting words were unlike a teenager, Derek noted. Scott seemed to realize the same. Finally.

“I was gonna tell you the truth at the formal.” Even as he spoke, Scott was being smart and trying to back away but it seemed like talking wouldn’t get them anywhere if the girl’s stance was anything to go by. “I was gonna tell you everything. Because… everything that I said, everything that I did…”

“It was to protect me?” she didn’t sound so convinced.

Derek stopped paying attention to them and focused on Lucy. Aside from the still open wound on her chest, she seemed unharmed, something for which he was thankful. He draped himself over her when he heard Kate approaching. “We did that,” she was saying. “now we’re gonna kill them.” And Derek got shot, too.

Still reeling from the pain, he tried to keep up with what was going on around him. Damn, he never thought he’d be so happy to see Chris Argent as he was right there and then. Ironically, he was there to save them rather than kill them and sprouted some crap about hunting only those who hunted them. If Derek knew one thing, though, is just how pathetically naïve Chris Argent sounded. Derek’s family was a testament to just how corrupted and murderous hunters were. They killed first and asked questions later, sometimes not even that. Anything that was Supernatural had a bullseye on their back. Finally, Kate lowered the gun but it was too late for any of them to get out of there.

The door to his house opened slowly and the alpha came out running too fast for anyone to see. Even Derek had trouble keeping up with him. It was all a game, it seemed. One by one, the Argents and Scott fell down, leaving only a hysterical Kate standing.

“C’mon!” Kate was looking around, trying to pinpoint the alpha to shoot him and Derek let out a small laugh. The alpha was toying with her like a predator did with his prey, trying to make her feel scared knowing that her death was near. Really, Derek had to give him props for that one. It was brilliant. “C’mon!” If she knew what awaited her once Peter had his fun she wouldn’t be taunting him that way.

Finally, Peter made his appearance behind Kate, grabbing her arm that held the gun and pointing it upwards. Some shots were fired but that was it. He broke her hand and Derek took pleasure in watching her crying out in pain. A moment later she was being dragged inside the house.

Derek then let himself breathe out a sigh of relief. Before approaching the house to help Scott with the alpha, he made sure that Lucy wouldn’t be disturbed. He hid her behind another tree, covering her with some leaves and kissing her forehead. As he made his way to the house he wondered why he’d done that and hoped he survived this to find out.

“I don’t know about you Allison, but that apology didn’t sound very sincere.” Peter was saying as they entered the house. Kate Argent’s body lay at his feet, her throat ripped wide open. Derek barely paid any attention to that detail, he would gloat later.

Both of them attacked Peter at the same time and Peter swatted them like flies. Derek hit a wall but bounced back quickly, attempting to punch him and only getting thrown away against the ceiling this time. He hit the floor with a loud thud and felt his ribs protest when Peter kicked him away. Once again, Derek only got his ass handed to him, though he did land a good kick this time. His victory was short-lived. The alpha picked him up easily and used him as a missile, which he launched at Scott and they both landed against some debris on the other side of the room.

Growling, Derek got up again, thinking that Scott wasn’t being of much help and ran on top of a table to get to the alpha, but he moved and Derek crashed against the far wall, again. This time it took him a while to get up. Long enough for the alpha to shift completely and chase out after Scott. When he came out, it was like a particularly sappy movie. Scott was on the front lawn kissing Allison while Stiles and Jackson were staring at the incinerated remains of his uncle. His legs automatically took him there because that’s exactly where he needed to be.

Derek knelt in front of his uncle’s barely alive form when Scott spoke. “Wait! You said the cure comes from killing the one who bit you.” He closed his eyes, regretting his words but determined to end this despite Scott’s pleas. Even if he allowed Scott to kill Peter, it wouldn’t give him his humanity back. There was no cure according to Lucy. “Derek, if you do this I’m dead. Her father… her family,” his tone had a hysterical sound to it. “What I’m I supposed to do?”

“You already… decided.” Peter wheezed out. Damn it, even close to dying Peter could still get to him. “I can smell it on you…” When his eyes began to glow red, Derek acted on his decision, afraid that Peter might actually rise up again and, ignoring Scott’s protests, slashed his throat with his claw.

As the light faded from his eyes, Derek could feel the surge of power coursing through his veins. When he rose up and turned to face everyone else, Derek was no longer a beta. He felt the shift of power and his vision heightened as his eyes glowed red. “I’m the alpha now.” 

A rustling sound from the woods drew everyone's attention to a lonely figure crawling towards them. The sight of Lucy covered in mud and leaves was disconcerting to Chris Argent in particular who picked up his gun and aimed to kill.

“Don’t!” He yelled and Chris stopped. “It’s my… friend.”

“Lucy?” Scott said with surprise. “I thought she was dead!”

In the blink of an eye Lucy appeared in front of Scott and instantly launched herself at him, posed to bite him. Scott recoiled from her and pushed her away. In the background, Allison screamed when Derek picked her up. “Everybody, go!” If they were smart, they would do as he said, or else. Lucy wasn’t in her right mind now. She was dangerous when her instincts took over.

Holding Lucy turned out to be harder than expected, especially when in one motion she sank her fangs into his arm, the closest limb to her mouth at the moment, and tore at it viciously. With the Alpha title came more power, which is the only thing that helped Derek in that moment. Thankfully, Derek’s newfound strength was enough to pull Lucy away. But it wasn’t easy and while she was still weak from her wounds, she was very strong.

Listening to the growls and grunts of pain coming from Lucy enraged Derek. All of this was his fault. Lucy got hurt because of him. He never should have asked her to come to this place when he knew there were hunters in the area. Once again, Kate had screwed him over by telling Lucy of what he did six years ago. Lucy—whom Derek might have feelings for—would now hate him. He knew she already harbored some resentment after he left her in Houston as soon as he heard his sister was meeting them there. In his attempt to keep Laura at bay and away from the truth, Derek also pushed Lucy away. Hiding the truth from Laura was so difficult from a distance that when he found out she was back he ran.

Derek grappled with Lucy a little more before her body finally gave out and he carried her away from there to where his car was a few miles away. He was frantic by the time they were on the road. Her heartbeat was too slow and the dark veins had spread all over her face, plus her skin had taken on a deathly pale parlor to the point that her lips were blue. The wound in the middle of her chest still gaped open, bleeding the whole way to Lucy’s house. He needed to get her somewhere safe and her house was the only place he could think of. 

As soon as Derek brought her in, he took her up to her room and carefully laid her down on the unmade bed. He needed to check out the wound and see why it wouldn’t stop bleeding so he ripped her shirt open, completely ignoring the fact that she was now half naked, only to realize that he had no idea what to do. She’d lost so much blood already and for Lucy, whose body needed blood to heal… Without another thought Derek grabbed some towels from the restroom and put pressure on Lucy’s wound. A thought suddenly occurred to him: blood. How could he have been so stupid? Lucy needed all that blood if she was to get better and it had to work now that he was an Alpha. All the raw power flowing through his veins had to be enough.

On a whim, Derek brought one of his wrists to his mouth and tore at his skin, then put it at Lucy’s mouth after prying it open. “Drink!” He yelled, desperate and pleading. There was no change but at least the blood was trickling down her throat and would hopefully help. Derek repeated this process twice, feeding her as much blood as he possibly could.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to keep her alive! Without blood…” Derek trailed off, freezing momentarily at the sound of that voice. Slowly, he turned around and saw the last person he thought he would ever see again. “Laura?”

His sister was just sitting there on the rocking chair by the window, calmly rocking back and forth. The creaking sound the chair made was the only sound in the room.

“Who else, Derek?” Laura replied, curious and honestly worried about Lucy, never taking her eyes off of her. “Now, what are you doing?”

“Lucy… she’s dying.” Derek mumbled, still unable to believe that he was actually talking to his sister. His dead sister that he’d buried next to the rest of his family. “And I don’t know what to do.”

Laura snorted and got up from the chair to stand by the bed, looking down on Lucy’s still form in deep thought. “Hmm. Peculiar. She’s not healing. Why?”

“Silver.” Derek replied automatically, his attention instantly back on Lucy. “Kate injected silver into her bloodstream.”

“Well, that explains it.” Laura said with a sigh. “Keep feeding her blood until she’s somewhat conscious and then let her drink from your… uh… I guess neck is better. Your carotid.”

Derek looked back and forth between Lucy and Laura, trying to think of something to say. What Laura was implying might be a normal thing for vampires but werewolves were a lot closer to humans and he could only let her drink so much. Lucy already drank a significant amount. The effects of bloodloss were making him dizzy and weak. 

“I—I can’t” Derek declared through gritted teeth after a few moments of considering it. He felt so useless. Such a disappointment. “I’m—”

Laura rolled her eyes. “I know.” Her expression turned serious as she peered down at Lucy, taking a whiff of her old friend. “But if you don’t get over it, she’s gonna die soon. The smell of death already clings to her and it’s not because she’s a vampire.”

A growl suddenly burst from Derek’s chest and, with every instinct in his body telling him not to do this because it was wrong, he picked Lucy’s upper body and put a hand behind her head to bring her face closer. Derek looked back at his sister—at this point just trying to make sure that he hadn’t imagined the whole thing—and saw her nod encouragingly.

That was all the initiative he needed to do this. Laura was right about the stench of death lingering in Lucy. The smell brought a sense of hopelessness but at the same time gave him the determination to go against deep rooted instincts. Derek began by tilting his head to one side, then slid a clawed finger along his neck and then brought Lucy’s mouth close to the wound. Lucy groaned as she awakened just enough to detect the scent of blood and, almost instantly, she latched onto his neck. Her razor-sharp teeth tore tissue and blood began flowing into her mouth in abundance.

While Lucy drank, Derek momentarily closed his eyes, when he opened them and looked over to where he’d last seen his sister, he noticed that she was no longer there. A weird sensation came over him. This weird feeling began in his neck where Lucy was drinking from him. It started as pleasant warmth that spread throughout his body way too fast for it to be anything other than a warning. It was time Lucy stopped drinking. She was taking too much.

With one swift yank, Derek pulled Lucy away and pinned her down with his own body. Lucy squirmed under him, arms and legs flailing around viciously as she tried to get him to let go. Her mouth opened and closed several times in a vain attempt to close around his throat. Wild, inhuman eyes stared up at him with a promise of blood and pain. Ignoring that, he persisted until she passed out again a few moments later. This time, her features shifted back to normal. The fangs and dark veins around her eyes and face slowly receding until all that was left was a human face. The only remaining clue that Lucy had just fed was the blood smeared around her mouth and dripping down her chin.


	10. Chapter 10

Epilogue

The day of the fire Lucy was shaken awake by Gabriel, and told to be at the meeting with the Hales downstairs in the basement. The only information that he disclosed was that it concerned hunters. Lucy was surprised it would take place so soon after what Michael revealed to her. She’d expected him to take his time telling everyone his dirty little secret, not get to it so soon. Then it occurred to her that maybe he hadn’t had a choice. Could it be that Michael had heard more from his family? If so, they could be in danger. Suddenly the hunters subject made more sense. 

As Lucy neared the living room, she heard Laura rushing to go down the stairs. Lucy glanced at the clock and was surprised that her friend was up so early. As far as she knew, Laura wasn’t supposed to be up until at least eight.

 _She’s meeting him!_  Lucy thought with delight. Today could be the day that Laura put her big girl pants on and decided to come out to her family about her ‘not relationship’ with that guy. Although, Lucy was sure that Talia suspected something was going on with her daughter. Nothing went past that woman. And the only reason why Lucy even knew about Jared was because of some passing comments Derek made. That boy was so oblivious sometimes. He didn’t realize that his couch’s assistant was dating his sister. Sad, really. Lucy wondered what could have him so distracted. Oh, well, that’s a mystery for another time.

Meanwhile, Lucy couldn’t let Laura know what was going on downstairs with her family. It wasn’t rare for the Hales to hold meetings like this. The only difference was Laura's absence. Lucy wanted to say something but she made a promise not to tell anyone else. It wasn't her place to go against Talia and Michael’s wishes. Michael would eventually deal with the fallout and Lucy planned to be there for him as well as his children.

As Laura’s steps got closer, Lucy sat on the couch in the living room and picked up a book to read. Just as she opened it to a random page after making sure the book wasn’t upside down, Laura stopped by the stairs in front of the door, out of sight.

“Stop hiding, I heard you coming.” Lucy murmured, putting the book down and smirking at her friend.

Laura stepped from out of the shadows with a sigh and sheepish smile. “Good morning.”

Lucy put her coffee away and left the book on a nearby table as she looked up at Laura with a questioning glance. To avert Laura’s attention away from her, Lucy opted for a, let’s say, particularly low blow. “Sneaking off to see Romeo, uh?” Laura’s eyes widened for a brief moment, and Lucy felt a pang of guilt for mentioning it. At the moment Laura needed to get out ASAP. With a sigh, Lucy went on. If she was going to touch this subject she might as well do something to fix it. “Laura, I think you should stop worrying about it so much and just…”

“I know, Lucy. I know.” Laura cut her off raising her hand to get Lucy’s attention. “But please… just stop it. I'm nervous enough as it is.”

One pointed look shut her up. “Fine.” She said with shrug and waited patiently for Laura to say or do something. Then it dawned on her what Laura just said and Lucy wanted to break into a happy dance. Jared would finally know the truth! It wouldn't be long before everyone else knew and Laura could stop stressing so much. 

Wait, if Jared was about to be brought in on the secret then that meant Talia had to approve. "Your mom..?" The panicked look on Laura’s face was answer enough. They just stared at each other while Lucy tried to convey her apologies and support. "I won't say anything." 

“I’m sorry, Lucy, it’s just that I’m not ready to admit anything to my family yet.” Laura confessed, shifting uncomfortably.

Lucy beamed, which only seemed to make Laura even more nervous. Laura had this look on her face of a deer caught in headlights. She was ready to bolt. “Thank you, Lucy, really. But I have to go."

Happy, she dared to approach Laura to give her a bone crushing hug. Surprisingly, Laura kissed her cheek as they pulled away and even thanked her again. Usually Laura didn’t do hugs or any sort of emotional demonstration. Lucy held on tight and basked in the moment.

As they walked to the door together a horrible thought occurred to Lucy. What if Laura didn’t take care of herself because she didn’t think there was any danger? At the moment Lucy regretted not having fought harder to win her argument about telling everyone the news about the hunters.

“Just be careful, alright?” Lucy murmured when Laura was a few feet away just before she entered got in her car. It wouldn’t hurt to give some advice even if it made her sound like a mom. With luck, Laura would take it that way instead of asking questions.

The moment Laura heard her, Lucy noticed the way her shoulders tensed and she briefly turned around, eyebrows raised. “I’m just saying, you never know.” Lucy clarified, trying to play it off.

“Are you sure?” Laura asked, coking her head to one side.

Lucy rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes. I’m sure. Now, go have fun with Romeo.” She waved.

“Right…” Laura still didn’t seem sure. But she went, and Lucy let out a relieved sigh, glad that she hadn’t blown it.

For a few moments she leaned against the door after closing it, dread pooling in her stomach just thinking about how the meeting downstairs was going. Things were bad around here at the moment, her friendship with Laura could be at risk and Lucy couldn’t do much for either of her problems. Hopelessness was the worst feeling in the world. Lucy was familiar with the emotion perhaps a bit too well and knew how to deal with it temporarily.

Before going downstairs, Lucy went to the kitchen to refill her cup of coffee. Then, because she wanted to put it off for as long as she could, Lucy went upstairs to check on the kids. She looked in on Ian and Cora first. Those two were the most likely to cause trouble this morning. But they were fast asleep, curled up in their beds with the covers over them. Next was Chloe, Sophia’s niece. She, too, was asleep and smiling. Lucy couldn’t help but run a hand through Chloe’s soft hair. With long blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin, she looked angelic. _Such a nice girl_ , Lucy thought, kissing her cheek before going back downstairs. Even though Chloe was almost as old as Peter, Lucy still thought of her as someone younger than that. 

There was only a brief hesitation on her part for a moment before she opened the door to the basement and closed it behind her. Lucy hoped that they excused her tardiness. Either way, it wasn’t really her fault and Gabriel would fill her in later on whatever she missed. Everyone was gathered around the table in the middle of the room as they discussed the topic at hand. Some were sitting down while others remained standing up with their arms crossed. The common denominator on all of them was the somber look on their faces. It was then that the seriousness of the situation sunk in for her. The danger felt more real.

The conversation in the room automatically ceased the moment she stepped in around the corner, and the tension in the room became stifling. Lucy froze, not knowing how to react. From across the room Peter gave her a nod, spurning her into action. She sat down at the table next to her father and crossed one leg over the other.

“Well, what’s the word?” Lucy asked to no one in particular.

Michael cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention to the head of the table. He leaned forward on his seat, resting his elbows on the table before addressing everyone. “We were just discussing Gerard’s possible course of action.” He clarified.

“He’s a psychopath with narcissistic tendencies; I’m surprised he’s even functional at this point.” Lucy said matter of factly.

At least that’s what she’d gotten from the way Michael and her Imogene described him. Gerard was some sort of legend among the hunters as well as supernatural population and everyone agreed on one thing: he was not to be messed with if you valued your life.

If only a little surprised, Michael nodded.

“Gerard is very dangerous.” Talia went on, picking up where her husband left off. “As we all know, what happened to Deucalion last year wasn’t an accident. He went to see the Argents about peace, and he got stabbed in the back.”

Gabriel sighed. “We told him not to, but he didn’t listen.” He supplied for Lucy, who didn’t know all the details of the other packs’ visit last year. “He believed he could make a truce with the hunters to stop an all-out war that was sure to happen if things kept progressing the way they were.”

Peter snorted. “He should count himself lucky he didn’t end up cut in half.”

“Your lack of tact amazes me, Peter.” Lucy mentioned with a sarcastic smile that didn’t do much other than thoroughly amuse Peter. He even winked.

“He’s probably been planning something against us since then.” Talia supplied, and Lucy agreed with her.

Peter straightened up from where he'd been leaning against the wall clucking his tongue. "Your words couldn't be more true, sister." He began in a tone that implied there was a 'but' somewhere in there. "It's obvious. Almost too... easy, don't you think?"

Lucy hated it when he made sense and so did her father, it seemed, if his expression of resignation was anything to go by. "He's right. Gerard is too smart to lose the element of surprise. After what happened to Deucalion I doubt he'll come charging at us himself because that's what we would expect."

"We need to be prepared for anything." Lucy cut in. "Gerard is a corrupt hunter and will probably use less than conventional methods to destroy us. The Code is no longer valid, if it ever was for him. We need to watch over our shoulders more than ever."

Michael's expression darkened at that and his heartbeat increased a bit. His hands balled into fists in frustration. Whatever he was thinking about couldn't be good. Someone only got that haunted look when they were thinking about something extremely messed up. Given Michael's history with his father Gerard, this was almost guaranteed to be disturbing. Lucy didn't envy him.

"Gerard never did things the conventional way." Michael's tone was cold and detached, his expression stoic. "For years, he inculcated his twisted views on my siblings and me. He made sure we never doubted the danger any supernatural creature posed for humans. Monsters are meant to be put down like the savage animals they really are no matter what they look like. Even children, if we ever came across them. Because no matter what disguise they use to trick us, they're all monsters that deserve to die." The way he said it, it sounded like a mantra, something to be repeated over and over again until you believed it.

This sudden confession had everyone in the room stunned. Even Peter seemed rattled. The one that seemed the most disturbed of all, though, was Talia. She was looking at her husband with torn feelings, a mix between pity and compassion. Ever the empathetic one, Talia managed to significantly calm Michael down with one comforting touch to his shoulder. In response to his wife's loving touch, Michael placed his hand on top hers and smiled a little. With that simple lovely exchange between the two, the atmosphere in the room lightened a little and the midlife crisis was averted.

"Great." Lucy said. "We're basically back to square one. Peachy." She had to interrupt the moment. It was touching but they had more pressing matters to discuss.

Peter snorted. "Not really, we could--"

A whirring sound resonated from above them, cutting Peter off. The lights over their heads flickered a few times before finally going out, cloaking them in darkness that lasted only a few seconds before Talia turned on a few lanterns around the place.

"I don't like this." Lucy murmured to her dad. "Peter, did you forget to pay the bill or something? Please tell me you forgot." In her experience, the lights going out meant something bad was about to happen.

Gabriel and Michael exchanged some weird looks before springing up into action. They'd barely taken a few steps when suddenly a noise coming from the farthest, darkest corner of the basement startled them. No one else was supposed to be down there with them. The sound was followed by some movement along the wall. Lucy tried to track it by its heartbeat but there was none. Thoroughly confused, she glanced at her father for an explanation and was surprised by his expression. Gabriel's eyes were wide and almost fearful. Lucy panicked.

"What's going on?" Lucy asked, inching closer to her father. "What's that?"

Talia grabbed Lucy by the arm and pulled her closer to the light the lantern was casting around their now tight knit group. Everyone suddenly gathered closer together, each glancing around as another dark figure seemed to join the previews one. Whatever they were, the dark figures were jumping around the walls, and then the floor. At one point Lucy could have sworn she saw claws and sharp teeth on those things.

"We have to get out of here." Gabriel told Lucy, grabbing her by the arm and trying to steer her out of the room, only to be stopped by the dark blob the moment they stepped out of the light. "Damn it! Michael, we have to get the lights back on, now!"

Lucy didn't understand what was happening at all. The lights? Well, they were in the basement. The fuse box had to be somewhere down here. She told her father as much, and the moment Talia replied with its location, sparks flew from it.

"What the hell?" Peter said, and then cursed when some cables nearly hit him in the chest. "What are those things and how did they get past the wards?"

That's exactly what Lucy was wondering. "Dad?" She asked again, regressing a few years back when she was a kid and turned to her father for answer. Except that this time not even her father seemed to know what to do.

"They're Strigoi." Gabriel replied, eliciting a gasp from Talia.

"But I thought they only hung out around cemeteries?" Peter asked, inching closer to the group.

With her sensitive hearing Lucy picked up something going on upstairs. Several footsteps were heard around the house, followed by some... splashes? There was a shift in the atmosphere that just didn't feel right and Lucy instantly knew that they were under attack. It was perfect, really. While the heavy cavalry was trapped in the basement anyone could get in if the wards were down, leaving the rest of their family vulnerable.

"We have to get out of here!" Michael shouted, then charged out of the circle. The instant he was out of the light's range, the shadows attacked him somehow managing to slice him with their claws. Michael didn't stand a chance, he couldn't get a hit on anything. They weren't solid. They were shadows, dark and untouchable.

Suddenly Peter got a funny look on his face. He tilted his head to one side and looked up slightly, then out of nowhere a roar filled with rage and pain left his lips and he was transformed the moment he jumped into the midst of the fighting. Lucy couldn't stand still anymore, she stepped forward to help the werewolves, but her father pulled her back.

"Dad, we have to help!" Whatever Peter had heard, it was bad if he lost control like that. "Let's go!"

Gabriel tightened his grip on her. "We can't, Lucy. If you step out of the light, they won't attack you. They'll possess you." He pointed at the shadow that was single handedly beating the crap out of Peter, a very skilled fighter. "They're Strigoi, they prey on a Vampire's magic, using our bodies to gain form and walk around doing nothing but harm. If they possess us, we'll turn on them. You can't--"

Peter had been thrown right on top of the table, knocking the lantern, which shattered and spilled gasoline across the floor, starting a fire. The light emanating from the flames didn't make much of a difference, though, Lucy could still see just fine but after what her father had revealed, a fear unlike anything she'd ever felt before gripped her tight.

"Shit." Her father cursed.

That's when the smell of something burning hit Lucy's nostrils and she noticed the smoke coming from under the door leading upstairs. So that's what had gotten Peter into a frenzy. Lucy, too, sprang into action trying to get upstairs to the kids, momentarily forgetting about the danger she was in. Her sole worry was the children and everyone else in danger. Between the roars and grunts from the fighting, and the imminent threat of death, Lucy didn't think twice about the implications. Somehow she ended up being knocked down and pinned to the floor.

"Not so fast, little girl." That was Gabriel's voice, but it didn't sound right at all. It sounded distorted, as if the signal was somehow getting mixed up with another and two voices came through. "You're staying here for the party."

Lucy was abruptly grabbed by the hair and hauled up to her feet. She tried to elbow her way out of the grip but Gabriel pulled her arm back and broke it before dislocating it so that she didn't try anything else. "Dad? Dad, please fight it!" Please, let it be possible, she thought. If she got possessed she'd at least have a chance of breaking free.

The Strigoi chuckled in her ear and turned her around to watch as the other shadow threw Talia so hard against the wall that something cracked. Talia's body slid down the wall leaving a bloody trail behind. Lucy scanned the room for Michael only to find him pinned to the ground with one of the table's legs protruding from his abdomen while Peter tried to help his sister. Everyone was occupied or unconscious, leaving the second Strigoi free to do as it pleased.

"C'mon, Rem, take her already." Gabriel hissed. "We don't have much time."

Rem slowly turned to her grinning but instead of charging at her, it threw one last lantern to the fuse box, which short-circuited and caught fire. The flames instantly spread, inching up and licking at the ceiling. While Lucy stared at the flames in despair and hopelessness, the thing crawled to her feet. Much like the flames, it slowly climbed up her body. The thing left a biting chill in its wake followed by numbness. Lucy struggled to break free but the thing only brought her closer to its body, successfully immobilizing her. Next thing she knew, a slimy, cold thing was crawling down her throat and then everything went blank.

The things possessing Gabriel and Lucy exchanged malicious looks, then turned to stare down at themselves. Rem, the Strigoi possessing Lucy, started examining his new body, rolling her shoulders trying to get used to the feel of life. He took control with little resistance. It was great to be able to feel again. Usually vampires were smart enough not to get possessed and took precautions such as wearing charms of light to ward Strigoi off. To be honest, he didn’t know how long it had been since the last time he was in control of a vampire’s body. But he was sure as hell gonna enjoy it.

The heat building in the room was even pleasant, though he knew that he needed to get out of there soon before they burned. He’d have time to enjoy his new body later after he finished what he’d promised to that hunter.

“Let’s go, Rae.” Rem, said. He wasn’t worried about the werewolves at all. They were all incapacitated at the moment. Plus, he doubted that they would hurt the bodies he and Rae occupied. That was the whole purpose of possessing these vampires, they were friends with the wolves. “We got places to be...”

Rem super sped upstairs with Rae at his heels. After barricading the door to the basement, Rem waited for Rae to run outside to get their little gift for the werewolves. When he came back, Rem asked, “Is the entire house surrounded by it?” he tilted his head to one side while listening in on the kids upstairs. “We don’t want anyone making a run for it.”

Rae nodded, “It’s all ready.” He jumped a little when a part of the upstairs banister suddenly fell in flames close to them. “Everything is going according to plan. We just need to…”

“Lucy?” A small voice startled them. Rem turned to see a dark haired little girl around ten years old standing next to the burning stairs holding a boy’s hand. She was scared and shaking, coughing because of the thick smoke that was beginning to invade the whole house. “What’s going on?”

Rem schooled Lucy’s features and walked up to the little girl. Cora, Lucy’s thoughts supplied. She crouched next to the kids and put a hand on top of Cora’s shoulder. “Everything is going to be alright, Cora. Don’t you worry.”

Ian, the little boy, shook his head, staring behind Rem at Rae with suspicion. “Gabe, your eyes…”

Cora gasped when she also caught sight of Rem’s eyes. “You’re not Lucy!” She exclaimed and tried to escape Rem’s hold but a vampire’s strength was greater than that of a small werewolf girl.

“Let her go!” Ian yelled, tears gathering in his eyes as he lashed out. Pain spread from the scratch along Rem's arm where the little wolf's claws dug into his skin. For a split second, Rem could only stare as blood flowed freely. The feeling of pain was unpleasant. He'd missed it. 

With a growl, Rem stood up in one fluid motion and grabbed the kid by the throat, squeezing it to cut off his airways. “I don’t have to listen to you.” He told the little boy and gestured for Rae to stand back as Cora started to attack him. “I can handle a pair of brats, Rae.”

“Ian!” Cora kept yelling. “Please, please let him go! Please!” Tears streamed down her face and coughs wrecked her body, but she never stopped trying to fight despite how futile her attempts were. The girl lacked self preservation. 

It was so peculiar, these little girl’s determination to save her brother. Very bothersome. So he broke the boy’s neck once and for all, a small mercy to spare him the burning flames. Knowing from experience how that felt when he’d had take possession of other bodies, Rem felt like he’d done a good deed. He let the boy’s lifeless body drop to the floor, the loud thud shocking his sister who stopped fighting. She ran to her brother but Rem caught her, too, and flung her away to the back of the house where her body collided with a door that splintered under her weight.

“She’s not dead.” Rae said as an afterthought. 

Rem shrugged. “The hunters will take care of her.” They’d done their job, incapacitating the older werewolves in the basement to perish.

The screams of said werewolves reached Rem’s ears and he grinned, turning to Rae, only to be punched so hard his body was flung against a wall. Pain spread from his cheek all the way to the rest of his body after the impact. His vision blurred a little and he could barely take a breath without feeling like something was stabbing him from the inside. Despite the unwelcome sensations, it was a glorious agony. After who knew how long, Rem could feel again. Rem blinked from the floor and looked up to see that the older vampire seemed to have regained control over his body. How unfortunate.

“You get out of my daughter or I will—“

“What?” Rem cut him off with a chuckle as he got up, hissing at the pain from where he’d been burned. “You’re not going to kill me. You’d kill your daughter, too.”

A moment later Gabriel had him up against the wall, holding him by the throat in the same fashion Rem himself had had the now dead boy. Except that Rem was sure he wouldn’t be killed and Gabriel knew it, too. “Damn you.”

Before Rem could reply to tell him that he already was, Gabriel grabbed a piece of wood and impaled him to the wall. The Strigoi let out a gurgled yelp of pain, his vision dancing with dark spots for a few moments before he was able to rein in the wrong sensation of the wood through his borrowed torso. It didn't take long. As he'd come to learn over the years, there was always a greater agony to experience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review and tell me what you think


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